SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian Saturday said a “small number” of drones had been supplied to Russia a few months before Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The Minister’s words marked an acknowledgment for the first time that his country had supplied Moscow with drones.
However, he said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used drones to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.
In Iran’s most detailed response to date on the drones, Amirabdollahian denied Tehran was continuing to supply drones to Moscow.
“This fuss made by some Western countries that Iran has provided missiles and drones to Russia to help the war in Ukraine – the missile part is completely wrong,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
“The drone part is true and we provided Russia with a small number of drones months before the Ukraine war,” he said.
In recent weeks Ukraine has reported a surge in drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, notably targeting power stations and dams, using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.
Russia denies its forces have used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.
The European Union last month agreed new sanctions on Iran over its drone deliveries to Russia, and Britain imposed sanctions on three Iranian military figures and a defense manufacturer for supplying Russia with drones to attack civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine.
