Source Denies Iran’s Involvement in Drone Courses for Russia
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian military source denied the allegations made by Ukraine that Iran had been involved in programs to train Russian forces to use drones in the Ukraine war.
The informed source at the Iranian Armed Forces dismissed the accusations leveled by Ukraine's prosecutor general that Iran has given Russian forces training in using military drones, dismissing the allegations as a plot hatched by Western and European governments to justify their own direct interference in the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The comments came after Ukraine's prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said last month that a case has been opened against Abbas Mousavi Sharifi, a brigadier general serving in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), on suspicion of aiding Russia in war against Ukraine.
Kostin alleged that between July and August 2022, Russian military representatives reached an agreement with Iran on the purchase of attack drones and related equipment, claiming that Iranian experts had also trained Russian soldiers to use military drones in combat operations against Ukraine.
In response, the informed Iranian official reiterated the Islamic Republic’s neutrality in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
He explained that Abbas Sharifi and seven others had attended the 2022 International Army Games for seven days from August 15 to 21, 2022, at Alabino training ground in Moscow Region in order to supervise and evaluate the performance of the Iranian team that had taken part in the tank biathlon competition.
The Iranian general left Russia and returned to Tehran after the games, the source noted, pointing to the irrefutable evidence and transparent documents about the games, which were attended by several other countries including China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Venezuela, and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
“Abbas Sharifi had been the supervisor and evaluator of the Iranian team attending the competitions, and none of his companions had gone out of Moscow and they had not been present in the Crimean Peninsula,” the Iranian official stated.
The source noted that the accusations leveled by the Western states and the anti-Iranian media outlets lack credibility, denouncing them as a pretext for making fake news, spreading rumors, justifying direct interference from the Westerners, particularly the US and the UK, and fueling tensions in that region. “There are no evidence or clues about such false claims (against Iran),” the source said.
Restating Iran’s policy of neutrality and rejection of war and violence, the Iranian official described diplomatic measures and dialogue as the sole way to settle the conflicts.
Tehran maintains that interference from the Western, extra-regional and colonialist countries in the clashes between Russia and Ukraine would not be in the interests of any side, the Iranian official added.