Iran sold Russia drones that initially did not seem to work well or were not handled properly by Vladimir Putin's army. Now, the Islamic Republic is going one step further and is directly and substantially involved in the aggression against Ukraine by sending instructors from the Revolutionary Guards Corps to Crimea – a body classified as a terrorist organization by the United States – to teach the Russians how to drive the devices. And this happens when we already know that the devices are being used in attacks against civilian targets. The information comes from Washington Intelligence sources who leaked it to The New York Times.
Iranian drones have become a major weapon in the Russian offensive in Ukraine in recent weeks. To counteract their retreat in large areas of the country where the local army is rapidly recovering territory, Putin's forces have used these devices to destroy civilian infrastructure, in particular the Ukrainian power grid, and terrorize the population. And Tehran is participating in all of it.
Former Pentagon official and retired CIA officer Mick Mulroy believes that sending drones and trainers to Ukraine "deeply involves Iran in the war on the Russian side" by making it a direct participant in operations "that have killed and injured civilians." .
According to the United Nations, deliberate attacks against non-military targets could constitute war crimes. Which means that a criminal court investigation into crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine could bring members of Iran's armed forces and Revolutionary Guard to the bench.
Although Tehran has officially denied sending the drones, US Intelligence reaffirms the accusations and points out that the first shipment was delivered to the Russians in August. In turn, Ukraine has identified a series of unmanned aerial vehicles as Iranian kamikaze drones of the Shahed 136 model.
Tehran's involvement in the war alongside Russia complicates the chances of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between the great powers and Iran for the suspension of sanctions against the Islamic regime in exchange for its giving up an increase in uranium production. enriched that would allow him to have the atomic bomb.
According to the deputy spokesman for the State Department, Vedant Patel, Washington maintains that the unmanned aircraft that Iran is providing to Moscow are among the weapons subject to an embargo under the resolution 2231 of the UN Security Council, relative to the prohibition of certain technology transfers from the ayatollah regime to other countries. So the sale of the drones to Russia would violate a United Nations agreement linked to negotiations to rescue the nuclear deal with Iran. And the UK and French governments agree with this assessment.
At first, it was the Russian army that sent personnel to Iran to receive training in the use of drones. But the piloting problems and the mechanical malfunctions detected at the beginning of its start-up became persistent. So, Tehran chose to send its instructors to Crimea, which is the main launch base for the aircraft. Although it is unknown how many of these trainers have arrived in Ukraine, some sources speak of dozens.
In contrast to Tehran's official denial regarding the sending of drones to Russia, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, yesterday exposed the quality of the artifacts as "the work of the best talents of Iran". and “honor for the country”. And he added: “A few years ago, when images of our advanced missile and drone equipment were published, it was claimed that everything was photoshopped. Now they say how dangerous Iranian drones are and why are we selling them to so-and-so.” Khamenei wants war.
On Wednesday night, the United States mission to the United Nations, along with those of the United States, along with France and the United Kingdom, called for a special UN Security Council briefing on the evidence that Russia has acquired Iranian drones for its war against Ukraine.
"We express our grave concern about Russia's acquisition of these UAVs from Iran," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. "We now have abundant evidence that these UAVs are being used to target Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure."
Washington can join in the next few hours the European initiative to enable some new punishment against Tehran for this reason. "We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on everyone involved in these transfers," Price said.
