(Tehran) Iran said on Tuesday it was ready to hold talks with Kyiv to clarify what it considers “baseless” claims that Tehran supplies Russia with weapons and drones used in its offensive against Ukraine.
Posted at 2:37 pm.
Kiev and its Western allies have accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones to carry out attacks in Ukraine.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it had no knowledge of the Russian military’s use of such weapons.
Deeming the claims “baseless” and “based on false information,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Khanani assured Tuesday that “Iran is ready for dialogue and discussion with Ukraine to resolve these allegations.”
The ministry said it was “false” to claim that the Islamic Republic was sending weapons, including combat drones, to Ukraine for use in the war.
Ukraine asked the European Union on Monday to impose more sanctions on Iran after several deadly attacks by suicide drones on Kyiv.
On Tuesday, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, proposed to President Volodymyr Zelensky to sever diplomatic ties with Iran.
Kouleba said that Tehran had supplied Iranian drones to Russia, that it was against the war and that it did not support any side.
In recent days, Kyiv has repeatedly condemned Russia’s use of Iranian-made drones, including Shahed 136 suicide bombers, to attack civilian energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
To justify his proposal to President Zelensky, Mr. Kouleba also underscored the “emergence of reports of a possible continuation of Iran’s supply of arms to Russia,” after press articles in Moscow inciting an imminent supply of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles.
The Iranian ministry considers the accusations of arms deliveries to be part of the “deliberate establishment of a certain climate by the countries’ media and for political purposes” hostile to Tehran.
“Since the beginning of the conflict, the Islamic Republic has always emphasized the need to end it and resolve disputes through peaceful means,” the spokesman added.
In September, Ukraine has already scaled back Iran’s diplomatic presence in the country in response to alleged arms shipments from Tehran to Moscow.
