US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield claimed that her country had ‘released further information’ that Tehran had provided ‘hundreds of one-way attack UAVs’, and insisted that Ukraine and the UK had also provided ‘evidence’ that Iranian drones had been recovered by Kiev.
“Russia has not only procured hundreds of Mahara and Shahid series UAVs from Iran in clear violation of Resolution 2231. But it is also now working with Iran to produce these weapons inside Russia,” she alleged.
“Russia has been using these UAVs in recent weeks to strike Kiev, destroy Ukrainian infrastructure and kill and terrorise Ukrainian civilians,” Thomas-Greenfield continued.
However, Nebenzia condemned the US version of events and accused Washington of attempting to ‘mislead’ the world.
“We categorically rejected it. These are baseless allegations and blatant attempts to deliberately mislead the international community. The arguments that our colleagues are providing do not withstand any scrutiny and simply lack any legal or technical grounds,” he said.
The Russian ambassador added that the ‘evidence’ was limited to ‘open source information and vague assessments’ with ‘incoherent photos of hardly identifiable debris’.
“It looks they are not even sure themselves about the evidences they are providing. And it’s not about facts, as you see, is all about fake political narrative,” he stated.
Both Iran and Russia have repeatedly denied claims that Tehran has provided Moscow with drones to be used in the Ukraine war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in November dismissed media controversy over Iran’s alleged support for Russia in the Ukraine war, adding, however, that Tehran had provided Moscow with a limited number of drones months before the war in Ukraine.
He also assured that Iran will not be indifferent if it is proven that Russia has used Iranian drones in the conflict.
