Tehran rejects US claim of Russia’s use of Iran drones in war

In a statement on Friday, the mission said the anti-Iran claims are aimed to influence the six-month periodic report of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2231.

In a joint statement at the Security Council Stakeout on Friday, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield claimed Iran and Russia were enhancing military cooperation.

Thomas-Greenfield claimed Russia has not only procured hundreds of ‘Mohajer’ and ‘Shahed’ series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Iran in clear violation of Resolution 2231, but it is also now working with Iran to produce the weapons inside Russia.

The US diplomat said she delivered the joint statement on behalf of the United States, France, Britain, Albania, and Ukraine.

In response to the claim, Iran's diplomatic mission said since the countries in question have failed to impose their “illegal” demands on the secretariat to take in the issue of the drones, they seek to influence the six-month periodic report through organized letters and “political show.”

It said the pressure on the UN Security Council not to examine the report in due time this month during the presidency of the United Arab Emirates and to postpone it to the next month under Britain's presidency "clearly reveals their biased goals."

The mission said Iran has “repeatedly announced in a clear manner that it is not involved in the war and that this war cannot have a winner or a loser.”

The statement said all that must be done should be aimed at ending the war in Ukraine as soon as possible and resolving the root causes of the conflict to establish sustainable peace.

The latest claim came in connection with the UN chief's report on Iran’s implementation of Resolution 2231, passed in 2015 as part of the nuclear deal.

The resolution prohibits countries from receiving ballistic missiles and drones from Iran that have a range of more than 300 kilometers and a payload of more than 500 kilograms until October 2023.

Both Iran and Russia have repeatedly denied claims that Tehran has provided Moscow with drones to be used in the war in Ukraine.

The anti-Iran claims first emerged in July 2022, when US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan alleged that Washington had received “information” indicating that the Islamic Republic was preparing to provide Russia with “up to several hundred drones, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline” for use in the war.

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya also said on Friday that the claim about Iranian drones was “absolutely groundless.”

“It's not the first time that we hear allegations about us using Iranian drones in Ukraine. We categorically rejected it. These are baseless allegations and blatant attempts to deliberately mislead the international community,” the Russian diplomat said.

Nebenzya said Russia expected the UN Secretariat “to strictly abide by its mandate and not to yield to pressure exerted by some states.”