Zakharova: Allegations that Iran supplies drones to Russia groundless

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Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova slammed on Thursday the allegations that Iran has been supplying drones to Russia as "a set of groundless speculations."

Zakharova said that "the rumors about [deliveries of] Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles being spread by some independent, unnamed and closed sources in the American media have been refuted in recent days by both Iranian and Russian officials."

"Is it necessary to comment on those allegations against us and Tehran? I don’t think so, because they are nothing but a set of groundless speculations <…> and far-fetched assumptions that Britain and France are trying to construct, and they have fallen to pieces in front of everyone again and again," the Russian spokesperson considered.

Pointing to a recent statement by a deputy spokesperson for the US Department of State that claimed Iran has been supplying drones to Russia, Zakharova pointed out that "the hardest thing is to prove an axiom because an axiom is something that doesn’t need to be proved. And yet we are living in a world where we seem to have to do so time and again."

Earlier on Thursday, the European Union imposed sanctions against three Iranian individuals and one entity over claims of developing and delivering Iranian drones to Russia to use against Ukraine.

The EU added to its sanctions blacklist Iranian drone maker Shahed Aviation Industries, the current chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces Major General Mohammed Hossein Bagheri, logistics officer General Sayed Hojatollah Qureishi, and the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps drone program Brigadier General Saeed Aghajani.

The UK also announced that it enforced sanctions on the same three Iranian military figures and defense manufacturer over the same claims.

Similarly, the US State Department said in a statement that it is committed to imposing sanctions to prevent Iran from allegedly delivering "dangerous weaponry" to Russia.

"We are committed to working with allies and partners to prevent the transfer of dangerous weaponry to Russia. We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on all involved in these transfers," the State Department said. 

On his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the announcement of EU sanctions.

On Twitter, he posted: "I welcome the EU’s prompt action following my appeal on Monday to impose sanctions on Iran for helping Russia kill Ukrainians and damage our energy infrastructure."

I welcome the EU’s prompt action following my appeal on Monday to impose sanctions on Iran for helping Russia kill Ukrainians and damage our energy infrastructure. In three days, the EU agreed on a set of restrictions which will take effect as soon as today.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 20, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Wednesday that 233 Iranian Shahed UAVs have been destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses over the past 10 days, while Ukrainian Energy Minister, Herman Halushchenko, claimed Thursday that Russia has carried out about 300 strikes on Ukraine's energy system over the past 10 days.

Supplying weapons to Russia against Ukraine baseless claim: Iran FM

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian posted on Twitter that he reminded EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell in a phone conversation that "our clear policy is to oppose the war and its escalation in Ukraine."

"The claim of sending Iranian missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine is a baseless claim. We have defense cooperation with Russia but delivering weapons and drones against Ukraine is not our policy," Amir-Abdollahian stressed.

Iran requests proof of Russia using Iranian UAVs in Ukraine from Kiev

On Wednesday, Tehran requested documents from Kiev documenting and proving Russia's usage of Iranian drones in Ukraine as part of the ongoing war, the top Iranian diplomat confirmed.

امروز در تماس تلفنی بورل بوی یادآور شدم که سیاست روشن ما مخالفت با جنگ و‌ تشدید آن در اوکراین هست. ادعای ارسال موشک ایرانی به روسیه برای کاربرد علیه اوکراین یک ادعای بی اساس است. ما با روسیه همکاری دفاعی داریم اما ارسال سلاح و پهپاد علیه اوکراین سیاست ما نیست.

— H.Amirabdollahian امیرعبداللهیان (@Amirabdolahian) October 20, 2022

In the same context, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani, rejected "unfounded and unsubstantiated” claims that Tehran has supplied Moscow with UAVs for use in the war in Ukraine.

Similarly, Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the drones used in Ukraine were Russian-made, noting that images of the drones downed clearly show Russian inscriptions on them.

US statements on New START negotiations intended to stir up propaganda

In a separate context, Zakharova pointed out during a briefing that US statements about its willingness to resume talks with Russia on an agreement to replace the New START treaty were not backed up by any communication between the two sides and are intended to stir up propaganda.

"The Americans do not back up this kind of goading with any substantive, businesslike appeals through working channels. It all remains only in the media, it is done exclusively in the form of megaphone diplomacy. We understand that all this aims at some kind of propaganda," Zakharova considered, commenting on the remarks of Mallory Stewart, the Assistant Secretary for the American Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance (AVC), who claimed that the US is willing to resume talks with Russia on the News START replacement agreement.

The Russian Spokesperson expressed Moscow's openness to dialogue with Washington on de-escalation, maintenance of strategic stability, and risk reduction measures, including the use of arms control approaches on the basis of equal rights and respect for Russia's interests.

Russia: US violated New START treaty, hid number of strategic weapons

In mid-October, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Moscow and Washington exchanged notifications in September on the number of strategic offensive weapons under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

According to the Russian Ministry, the number of strategic offensive weapons claimed by the United States does not take into account 41 heavy bombers B-52H, as well as other weapons that must be taken into account in accordance with the agreement.

It is noteworthy that Russia and the United States announced in February 2021 the entry into force of the decision to extend the START 3 Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms for a period of five years.

The Treaty kept the two countries' nuclear arsenals at a much lower level than during the Cold War, as it set the number of installed strategic nuclear launchers at 700 and the number of nuclear warheads at 1,550.

But on August 8, Moscow informed Washington that it is temporarily halting inspections at its facilities covered by the New START Treaty.

The Russian Foreign Ministry explained that Russia was forced to resort to such actions "due to Washington’s persistence in implicitly restarting inspections on conditions that do not take into account the existing realities, create unilateral advantages for the United States and actually strip Russia of the right to carry out inspections on US soil."