Iran denies sending weapons to Russia for Ukraine war

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - Iran has again refuted Western media reports about Russia using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine, as Moscow ups the ante with a series of strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks.

At a weekly presser in Tehran on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said news reports about Iran's weapons sales to Russia were "based on political goals" and "fueled by Western sources".

"Iran has repeatedly declared that it is not a party to the war between Russia and Ukraine," he said, asserting that Tehran has not supplied any weapons to any of the warring parties in Ukraine.

According to reports in Western media, citing US and European officials, Iran has agreed to supply drones and surface-to-surface missiles to Russia intended for use in the Ukraine war.

The reports suggest that the Iranian-made weapons are likely to compensate for Russia's dwindling military equipment, especially after a series of strikes on many Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, in recent weeks.

Some Western news outlets have also published photos of what they claim are remains of Iranian-made drones, Shahed-136 and Mohajer-6, allegedly used in Ukraine by Russian forces. The claim has been corroborated by Pentagon officials.

US media reports, citing unnamed officials, also referred to a visit of an Iranian military delegation to Moscow last month to finalize the weapons deal, which includes two types of surface-to-surface missiles, most likely Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar.

However, the Iranian spokesman strongly dismissed the media reports, stressing that Tehran is opposed to the war in Ukraine, which is now in its eighth month.

He termed it a "bitter political irony" that countries that supply weapons worth billions of dollars to "one side of the war" are accusing another country of sending weapons to "another side of the war".

Last month, Ukraine announced the downgrading of its ties with Iran and stripped the Iranian envoy in Kyiv of his accreditation over what it called an "unfriendly" decision by Tehran to supply drones to Russia.

Iran regretted the Ukrainian decision and vowed an "appropriate" response, while urging Kyiv to "avoid being influenced by third parties that seek to destroy ties" between them.

At the time, Kanaani said the decision taken by Kyiv was based on "unconfirmed reports" and caused by the "creation of media space" by foreigners, referring to the US.

Reports about Iranian drone sales to Russia have been doing rounds for many months now, but Iran has repeatedly denied it.

In July, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan accused Iran of supplying Russia with "hundreds" of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including weapons-capable drones, to use in its war in Ukraine.

He said the US has "information" suggesting that Tehran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them while describing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to deepen ties with Iran as a "profound threat".

Days later, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba dismissed the US claims as "baseless".

Meanwhile, some European Union foreign ministers on Monday called for fresh sanctions against Iran if its involvement in the Ukraine war is proven.

“We will look for concrete evidence about the participation [of Iran in the Ukraine war],” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg.

In their phone talk over the weekend, Amir-Abdollahian told Borrell that Tehran and Moscow have a "defense cooperation", but Iran's policy is "not to send weapons to the warring parties" in Ukraine and ending the war.