Iran’s ambassador to the UN denies Tehran supplied drones to Russia
People clean up the remains of an explosion in front of a house damaged during a Russian drone strike on October 19, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo: Ed Ram/Getty Images)
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, denied on Wednesday that his country had supplied Russia with drones for use in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters following a closed-door UN Security Council meeting, Iravani claimed Western countries were waging a disinformation campaign once morest Iran, and said Tehran would not violate a Security Council resolution by sending drones. to Russia.
“Iran firmly believes that none of its arms exports, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to any country fall under the provisions of paragraph four of Annex B of resolution 2231,” Iravani said, referring to to UN Security Council resolution 2231, which restricts certain arms transfers to or from Iran.
Ukrainian authorities say Russia has used Iranian-supplied drones in attacks on Kyiv and other cities in recent weeks.
Russia denies it: Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, told reporters at a press conference following the Security Council meeting that all the drones used once morest Ukraine are Russian, not Iranian, calling them ” disinformation campaign” by the West claims to the contrary.
The United States, the United Kingdom and France have called for a UN Security Council briefing “on recent evidence that Russia illegally acquired the Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles it is using in its war once morest Ukraine,” spokesman Nate Evans said. of the United States mission to the UN, in a statement following the meeting on Wednesday.
Polyanskiy, however, said the UN secretariat “has no mandate to investigate anything related to UN Security Council resolution 2231.”
a bit of context– Drones have played a major role in the conflict since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February, but their use has increased since the summer, when the United States and Kyiv say Moscow acquired Shahed “kamikaze” drones -136 from Iran.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday that the US has “abundant evidence” that Russia is using Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.