Iran slams West over ‘uncontrolled’ arms shipments to Ukraine
Western military assistance to Ukraine is only prolonging its conflict with Russia, the Iranian foreign minister claimed on Thursday. Iran has repeatedly voiced a stance of “active neutrality” on the crisis.
Speaking with his Finnish counterpart by phone, Hossein Amirabdollahian stressed that Tehran is “opposed to the continuation of war, including in Ukraine.”
Iran believes that “the uncontrolled shipment of US and European arms to Ukraine has further complicated the situation” in the country, the diplomat told Pekka Haavisto, according to a readout of the call released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
In recent months, Kiev and Western countries have accused Iran of providing Russia with weaponry, including military drones. Tehran has on numerous occasions said it is not involved in the hostilities 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.
