Tehran acknowledges providing drones to Russia before Ukraine conflict

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian acknowledged Saturday that Tehran provided drones to Russia, but said they were sent before the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

Amir-Abdollahian made the comments to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the UN hosted by Tehran.

He said "a limited number" of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones, were provided to Russia in the months before the Ukraine war as part of a defense cooperation deal between the two sides.

He, however, rejected reports about Iran planning to supply ballistic missiles to Russia to be used in the Ukraine war, which is now in its ninth month.

The top Iranian diplomat said the drones supplied to Russia were not meant for use in the Ukraine war, emphasizing that arming one of the sides in the war goes against the country's "principled policies".

Tensions have heightened between Tehran and Kyiv amid accusations by Ukrainian and American officials for Iran of supplying drones to Russia to be used in Ukraine.

Some Western media outlets have in recent months published photos of what they claim are remains of Iranian-made drones, Shahed-136 and Mohajer-6, allegedly used in Ukraine by Russian forces.

Reports have also been doing rounds that Iran plans to supply surface-to-surface missiles to Russia, in addition to drones.

Iranian officials, however, have denied the claims, saying they have a defense cooperation deal with Russia but are opposed to the war in Ukraine.

Amir-Abdollahian said he agreed with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call last week that any documentary evidence showing the use of Iranian drones in Ukraine should be provided to Tehran.

He said the two sides had almost two weeks ago agreed to a meeting in a European country to discuss the issue but the meeting was canceled "at the last minute" after the Ukrainian team failed to show up.

Amir-Abdollahian blamed the United States and some European countries, specifically mentioning Germany, for exerting pressure on Ukraine to skip the meeting.

He added that relations between Iran and Russia are "based on the principles of neighborliness and mutual interests", but if it's proven that Moscow used Iranian-made drones in Ukraine, Tehran "will not be indifferent" to the issue.

The top Iranian diplomat said his country's position is to "end the war" through dialogue and "return of refugees" to their homes.