Iran has denied allegations that it provided drones to Russia

A drone flies over Kyiv during an attack October 17, 2022 amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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UNITED NATIONS – Iran’s UN official has sharply dismissed Western claims that Tehran has supplied Moscow with a fleet of drones for use in Ukraine.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has taken a clear and consistent position on the situation in Ukraine, which has been expressed since the beginning of the conflict,” Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, told reporters.

“Iran has consistently worked for peace and an immediate end to the conflict in Ukraine,” Iravanai said.

He added that the claims were “baseless and unfounded” and said the West was waging a disinformation campaign against his country. Iravanai, who did not take questions from reporters, also said the baseless allegations were “disappointing.”

The United Nations Security Council at the UN Headquarters in New York City, September 30, 2022.

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Iravani’s comments followed a closed session of the UN Security Council at which the United States, Britain and France raised the implications of Iranian arms sales to Russia.

The three nations — also members of the original 2015 nuclear deal with Iran — say Iran violated a UN Security Council resolution by supplying drones to Russia. The resolution, known as 2231, bans the transfer of “all items, materials, equipment and goods and technology” from Iran to any other nation unless approved in advance by the UN Security Council on a case-by-case basis.

Iravani said such transfers are “outside the scope” of the 2015 resolution and therefore Tehran has not breached its commitments.

According to a Reuters report, Kyiv has invited UN experts to inspect allegedly downed Iranian drones in Ukraine.

In recent days, Moscow has carried out several devastating missile and drone strikes against civilian targets as well as critical infrastructure such as power plants. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it uses Iranian-made drones in Ukraine and that it targets residential and other highly civilian areas.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters that the drones found in Ukraine were not made in Iran but were of Russian manufacture.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, addresses reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York on October 19, 2022.

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He said that pictures of the drones shot down in Ukraine clearly bear Russian inscriptions. However, he added that he was not a drone expert and could not elaborate further.

After the drone strikes, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the 30-strong alliance would send drone jammers to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Kyiv has also proposed to sever diplomatic ties with Tehran amid recent arms transfers and drone strikes.