Iran slams West for “unrestrained” arms delivery to Ukraine

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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held a phone call on Thursday with his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto, during which the two discussed bilateral relations and the recent developments in Iran.

The "unrestrained" delivery of US and European arms to Ukraine has exacerbated the situation in the country, Amir-Abdollahian said, expressing Iran's opposition to the continuation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"The uncontrolled shipment of US and European arms to Ukraine has further complicated the situation” in the country, Amir-Abdollahian told Haavisto, according to a readout of the call released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Pointing to the the Finnish foreign minister's visit to Tehran in February, the Iranian foreign minister said the relations between the two countries are on the right track.

He updated Haavisto on the most recent developments in the negotiations to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

For his part, Haavisto thanked Amir-Abdollahian for the updates and stated that his country supported the JCPOA being reinstated.

Ukraine and Western countries have accused Iran over the past months of providing Russia with weapons, including military drones. Tehran has several times said it is not involved in the hostilities in any way and has not supplied Russia with drones to be used on the battlefield.

Read: UN has no mandate to probe alleged use of Iran drones: Russia

“Iran has not sent and nor will it send any weapons to Russia to use in the Ukraine war, because Iranian officials believe that there should be a political solution to that crisis,” Amir-Abdollahian said in October.

However, the minister acknowledged in early November that Tehran gave a small batch of drones to Russia, but it was before the Ukraine war broke out.

Russia has repeatedly warned the West against "mindlessly pumping weapons" into Ukraine, arguing that this would only prolong the war.