“Iran must immediately cease all support to Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and halt such transfers of ballistic missiles, UAVs (drones) and related technology, which constitute a direct threat to the Ukrainian people as well as European and international security more broadly,” the G7 ministers said in a statement.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to hold Iran to account for its unacceptable support for Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine that further undermines global security. In line with our previous statements on the matter, we are already responding with new and significant measures,” they added.
Italy currently holds the presidency of the G7 group of wealthy nations which also includes the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France and Canada.
On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stressed that Tehran did not supply Moscow with ballistic missiles, despite what the “sanctions addicts” in the West claim.
In a post on X, Araghchi said that the US and its allies were acting “on false intelligence and false logic.”
“Iran has NOT delivered ballistic missiles to Russia. Period,” he wrote. “Sanction addicts should ask themselves: how is Iran able to make and supposedly sell sophisticated arms?”
“Sanctions are not the solution but part of the problem,” he concluded.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also stressed recent deliberations about alleged deliveries of weapons to Russia from abroad are groundless.
“We hear about a lot of allegations regarding some kind of supplies of some kind of weapons to Russia, but they are groundless,” Peskov told journalists on Thursday commenting on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s recent statement that Iran had been allegedly supplying Russia with missiles.
“We are developing our relations with a number of countries, we are cooperating in various spheres, and we will continue this cooperation in the interests of all involved countries,” he added.
