Iranian officials have long denied the accusations (Pictures: AP / Reuters)
Iran has appeared to acknowledge for the first time that it sent drones to Russia in the months before the invasion of Ukraine.
Tehran said today a ‘small number’ of drones were given to Moscow, with drones later used to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.
Foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted by the country’s official news agency, IRNA, as saying: ‘This fuss made by some Western countries that Iran has provided missiles and drones to Russia to help the war in Ukraine.
‘The missile part is completely wrong. The drone part is true and we provided Russia a small number of drones months before the Ukraine war.’
Iranian officials have long denied arming Russia in its war on Ukraine.
Only last week did the Middle Eastern country’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid call the accusations ‘totally unfounded’ and stressed Iran’s neutrality.
Kyiv has described some drones as Iranian-made (Picture: AP)
Russia’s drone strikes are mainly striking civilian infrastructure (Picture: Getty Images)
But giving mixed messaging, reports have suggested Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps trained Russians on how to fly the drones.
Iran neither confirmed nor denied the claim, an official told The New York Times.
Ukraine has reported a rampant surge in the number of drone attacks using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone pelting power stations and damns.
Amirabdollahian was quoted by IRNA as saying Tehran and Kyiv agreed to discuss the alleged usage of Iranian drones but Ukraine did not show two weeks ago.
‘We agreed with the foreign minister of Ukraine to provide us with documents they have that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine,’ Amirabdollahian said.
Metro.co.uk contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran for comment.
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The country’s foreign minister described the accusations as a ‘fuss’.
