Ukraine said on Friday that it has downgraded diplomatic ties with Iran over its decision to supply armed drones to Russia. Tehran condemned the move and rejected Kyiv’s accusations, saying they are based on “foreign media propaganda.”
“It has already been decided to deprive the Ambassador of Iran to Ukraine of accreditation, as well as to significantly reduce the number of diplomatic personnel of the Iranian Embassy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Calling Iran’s move to supply Russia with drones a “collaboration with evil,” he asserted that Iran’s actions would have “corresponding consequences.”
In 1943, Tehran became a place of hope for a new life without Nazism.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 23, 2022
In 2022, fundamentalist Tehran became a place that supports russian Nazism and the murder of peaceful citizens.
Today, #UAarmy destroyed 6 russian kamikaze drones provided by Iran. pic.twitter.com/yAtukFo2q1
Zelensky mentioned that Russian forces have used Iranian drones to attack the Dnipro and Odesa regions and claimed that Ukrainian troops have shot down nine Iranian drones so far.
Iran, however, dismissed Zelensky’s accusations as baseless and “expressed regret” over Ukraine’s decision to sever diplomatic ties. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Saturday that “Kyiv’s decision was made based on unconfirmed reports and foreign media propaganda.”
Kanaani stressed that Tehran is against war and has a “clear policy of active neutrality” in the ongoing Ukraine conflict. “Tehran will take a proportionate action in response to the Ukrainian government’s move,” Kanaani said, urging Kyiv “to avoid being influenced by third parties that aim to destroy ties between Iran and Ukraine.”
Iran claims that Ukraine had fallen for foreign reports that it supplied Russia drones. This omits the small matter of Ukraine shooting down numerous Shahed-136 drones.
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) September 26, 2022
Ukraine’s decision came after its military announced earlier this month that it had shot down an Iranian suicide drone. The military claimed that the unmanned aerial vehicle was a ‘Shahed’ suicide drone that failed to detonate on impact.
In fact, the United States (US) said back in July that Iran had replenished Russia’s military arsenal with hundreds of drones, and was preparing to train Russian forces on operating the drones.
Since the start of the war, Russia has seen significant losses in military equipment, including the destruction of over 1,500 tanks, almost 4,000 armoured vehicles, and more than 600 drones, according to Ukraine. In light of its depleting arsenal, it has not only turned to Iran but also North Korea, with US intelligence reports indicating that it is seeking to procure hundreds of rockets and artillery shells from Pyongyang.
Against the backdrop of these reports, North Korea claimed last Thursday that it had “never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia before” and nor does it “plan to export them.” That being said, although it called the news a “rumour” being spread by the US to “tarnish” its image, it added that not only was “the development, production, possession of military equipment” lawful, “but also their export and import are the lawful right peculiar to a sovereign state, and nobody is entitled to criticise it.”
Much like Iran, Ukraine also severed ties with North Korea over the rogue state’s decision to recognise the independence of the breakaway Russia-backed territories of Donetsk and Luhansk
Today Odessa was again attacked by Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, which Russia got from Iran. Ukrainian army mastered to successfully land Russian aircraft, and these drones will follow. For that Ukraine needs more Western modern air defense systems. Drone launcher video below. pic.twitter.com/jZvYupj2IR
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) September 25, 2022
Kyiv, meanwhile, has dealt a lot of damage to Russian weaponry through drones, especially the Turkish-manufactured Bayraktar TB2s.
During the course of the Ukraine war, Tehran has significantly improved ties with Moscow. Faced with a host of sanctions by the US, Iran announced in July that it would gradually move away from the dollar while trading with Russia and, to this effect, set up an exchange for trade in rubles.
This is the second time a European country has cut off diplomatic ties with Iran in less than three weeks. Earlier this month, Albania severed relations with Iran after it accused Iran-affiliated actors of conducting a major cyberattack that disrupted the country’s digital infrastructure.