Iran denies allegations that it supplied drones to Russia

United Nations – Iran’s representative to the United Nations vehemently denied Western allegations that Tehran supplied Moscow with a fleet of drones for use in Ukraine.

Ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, told reporters that “the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken a clear and consistent position on the situation in Ukraine that has been announced since the beginning of the conflict.” .

“Iran has consistently called for peace and an immediate end to the conflict in Ukraine,” Iravani said.

He added that the allegations were “baseless and baseless” and said the West was waging a disinformation campaign against his country. Irvani, who did not respond to reporters’ questions, said the baseless allegations were “disappointing”.

Irvani’s comments came on the heels of a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council where the United States, Britain and France raised the implications of Iranian arms transfers to Russia.

The three countries – also members of the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal – say that by supplying Russia with drones, Iran has violated a UN Security Council resolution. The resolution, known as 2231, prohibits the transfer of “all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology” from Iran to another country unless approved in advance by the UN Security Council on a case-by-case basis.

Irvani said such transfers are “outside the scope” of the 2015 resolution and therefore Tehran has not violated its obligations.

Meanwhile, Kyiv has invited UN experts to inspect what it says are Iranian drones that have been shot down in Ukraine, according to a Reuters report.

In recent days, Moscow has carried out several devastating missile and drone strikes against what Ukraine has described as civilian targets as well as vital infrastructure such as energy facilities. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it uses Iranian-made drones in Ukraine and that it targets residential and other civilian areas.

Dmitry Polyansky, first deputy permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations, told reporters that the drones found in Ukraine are not Iranian but Russian-made.

He said that the photos of the drones that were shot down in Ukraine clearly had Russian inscriptions on them. But he added that he is not an expert on drones and could not provide more details.

In the wake of the drone strikes, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the 30-member alliance would send drone jamming equipment to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Kyiv has also proposed severing diplomatic ties with Tehran in light of recent arms transfers and drone attacks.