The EU is tightening its sanctions against Tehran because of the delivery of Iranian drones to Russia. Neither Iran nor Russia want to know about it, although hundreds of these drones have already been shot down in Ukraine. Instead of an exchange, threats follow from the Russian side.
At a UN Security Council session, Russia denied the use of Iranian drones in Ukraine. Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyansky said in New York that Russia only uses Russian-made drones in Ukraine. “I would advise you not to underestimate the technological capabilities of the Russian drone industry,” he said. Reports about the use of Iranian drones are “unfounded allegations and conspiracy theories”.
Polyansky warned the UN against investigating existing sanctions against Iran in Ukraine. There is “no mandate for that.” So that would be absolutely unprofessional and political,” he said. If the UN Secretariat or UN Secretary-General António Guterres went ahead with the plan, “we’ll have to reconsider our cooperation with them, which hardly anyone is interested in “.
According to diplomats, the permanent Security Council members USA, France and Great Britain had asked for the meeting. The United States and France have warned that Iran is violating a Security Council resolution by supplying drones to Russia. Because of Russia’s right of veto, however, there was no resolution.
Ukraine says it has shot down more than 200 Iranian drones over the country since mid-September. Since the “first downing of an Iranian-made Shahed 136 kamikaze drone over Ukrainian territory on September 13 in Kupyansk,” the air defense system has “destroyed 223 drones of this type,” the Ukrainian army said on Telegram.
Tehran dismissed the statements from Kyiv as “unfounded”. “The allegations that the Islamic Republic is sending weapons, including military drones, to the Ukraine war” are not true, a foreign ministry spokesman said in Tehran.
