Zelensky office calls for strikes on Iran over 'UAV supply' to Russia

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Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Saturday that it was necessary to conduct strikes on Iran due to Tehran allegedly supplying drones to Russia.

Ukraine and its western allies have long been accusing Iran of supplying drones to Russia in the midst of the war. However,  Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said earlier today that his country did, indeed, give a small batch of drones to Russia, but that was before the Ukraine war broke out.

🇺🇦🇮🇷Mykhailo Podolyak -Zelensky's advisor"It is necessary not just to impose sanctions or embargoes, it seems to me that it would be possible to launch specific strikes on the production of drones and ballistic missiles, and so on [on Iran]" pic.twitter.com/aNhb1FrMSR

— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) November 5, 2022

Tehran's latest statements once again struck down the allegations as false, saying that the Iranian drones seen in Ukraine's airspace were not provided to Moscow as the war was ongoing. 

"It seems to me that it would be possible to deliver specific strikes on the production of drones, ballistic missiles, and so on," Podolyak said.

According to the presidential advisor, the Islamic Republic "cannot continue to do this with impunity", i.e., allegedly providing assistance to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went as far as claiming that Russia was deploying almost 2,500 attack drones purchased from Iran.

Reportedly, Russia is chiefly using the Shahed-136/Geran-2 type kamikaze drone against Ukraine, with many reports surfacing about the matter over the past few weeks.

The fear the drones are inflicting on the Ukrainians has pushed Kiev to further seek air defense systems from its Western allies.

The usage of drones has prompted Ukraine's allies to come together in various ways to try and help Kiev, with Turkey and the United States sending in drones and the Israeli occupation providing Kiev with intelligence on the Iranian drones being used in Ukraine.

Iran and Ukraine were supposed to sit down and discuss the issue, but Kiev bailed out on the talks at the last second.

"We agreed with Ukraine's foreign minister that if they have any documents proving Russia has been using Iranian drones in Ukraine, Kiev should provide these documents to us," Amir-Abdollahian said earlier in the day, as quoted by Iranian news agency Tasnim.

The Foreign Minister added that the delegations of the two countries agreed to meet two weeks ago in a European country.

However, he said "the United States and some European countries, especially Germany," asked Ukraine not to attend the meeting because the West has been using the drone issue in its policy against Iran. As a result, Kiev made a last-minute decision to suspend the talks, he added.