West News Wire: According to the Iranian foreign minister on Thursday, Western military support for Ukraine simply serves to prolong its confrontation with Russia. Iran has frequently expressed its desire to remain “actively neutral” in the situation.
Hossein Amirabdollahian emphasized in a phone conversation with his Finnish colleague that Tehran is “against the continuance of war, particularly in Ukraine.”
According to a transcript of the conversation made public by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iran feels that “the uncontrolled transfer of US and European weapons to Ukraine has further exacerbated the situation” in that nation.
Kiev and Western nations have recently accused Iran of giving Russia weapons, including military drones. Tehran has repeatedly stated that it is not a part of the fighting in any way and has not supplied Moscow with drones to be used on the battlefield.
“Iran has not sent and nor will it send any weapons to Russia to use in the Ukraine war, because Iranian officials believe that there should be a political solution to that crisis”, Amirabdollahian said in October.
In early November, however, the minister acknowledged that Iran had sent a “small number” of drones to Russia, but explained that the shipment took place several months before large-scale fighting in Ukraine broke out.
The same month, the Ukrainian military said the alleged Iranian drones contained mostly US-made components, and elements from a number of other countries, including Ukraine itself. Kiev also said it was “determining how it could have gotten there.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said all weapons used by Russian troops in Ukraine come from domestic stockpiles.
Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against pumping Kiev with weapons, arguing that this would only prolong the hostilities.
