Moscow to get drones from Tehran, says White House | War in Ukraine

Drones play role important in the war in Ukraine. They are used by both sides for reconnaissance operations, missile launches or bomb drops.

In May 2022, the Iranian army released this image showing two generals circulating, according to it, in an underground drone base in the Zagros Mountains region.

Washington believes Moscow turned to Iran for hundreds of drones to support its war effort in Ukraine, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has revealed .

Our intelligence indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to deliver up to several hundred drones, including combat aircraft, to Russia within a very short time. short, he explained Monday during a press briefing in Washington.

This information also indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces in the use of these drones and the first training sessions were to begin as early as early July, Sullivan added, stressing that he did not know if drones had already been delivered by Tehran.

According to President Joe Biden's national security adviser, this is evidence that Russia's crushing bombardment in Ukraine, which led it to consolidate its gains in the east of the country in recent weeks have come at a cost to maintaining its own weapons.

Mr Sullivan also pointed out that Iran had provided similar drones to the rebels Houthis from Yemen to attack Saudi Arabia, before a ceasefire was reached earlier this year.

Tehran reacted to the allegations on Tuesday, saying that no particular development had taken place in technological cooperation between Russia and Iran.

Technological cooperation dates from before the events in Ukraine and there have been no particular developments in this field recently, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said, without mentioning drones.

He recalled that Tehran's position is clear and has been officially expressed many times. Iran, he said, is against the war in Ukraine and calls for a political solution, while denouncing the origin of this crisis due, according to Tehran, to the desire for expansion of the United States and NATO.

Drones have played an important role since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, for reconnaissance operations , missile fire or bomb drops. Both Ukrainians and Russians use it.

Sullivan's revelation comes on the eve of President Biden's trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, where Iran's nuclear program and its activities deemed malicious in the region will be a key topic of discussion.

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Both US allies have refused to join global efforts to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine because of their national interests.

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Military analyst Samuel Bendett of the CNA think tank said Russia's choice of Iran as a source of drones makes sense because over the past 20 years Iran has honed its drone combat force. Their drones took part in more battles than those of the Russians.

They are the pioneers of kamikaze drones, a category of aerial weapon system in which the munition waits around the target area for a period of time and only attacks when the target is located. This is the same type of drone as the Switchblade, which the United States supplied to Ukraine.

Iran has a proven track record when it comes to flying drones hundreds of miles and hitting their targets, Bendett added, including penetrating US-supplied air defenses and hitting Saudi oil refineries.

He believes that Iranian drones could be very effective in striking Ukrainian power plants, refineries and other important infrastructure.

Mr. Bendett pointed out that before the war in Ukraine, Russia obtained a drone technology license for its Forpost drone from an experienced supplier: Israel. As the Jewish state has remained neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, this source is no longer available for Moscow.

With information from Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse