Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to visit Tehran next week, while Washington accuses Iran of the imminent sale of hundreds of drones to Moscow for use on the Ukrainian war fronts. The summit meeting, on July 19, will also be attended by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting had been planned for months, with its agenda concerning the developments in Syria.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the US has intelligence that Tehran is "preparing to equip Russia with hundreds of drones, with the completion of the order being of an urgent nature." Our information also speaks of preparations by Iran to train Russian troops in the use of drones, possibly these days."
Mr. Sullivan added that the information reinforces US intelligence's assessment that intense bombardment by Russian artillery has depleted the ammunition reserves of the Russian military, which is now looking for new supply methods. The national security adviser pointed out that such Iranian drones are being used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen for their attacks against targets inside Saudi Arabia's borders.
Drones have played a crucial role in the Ukraine war, with the Turkish-made Bayraktars gaining a reputation for their bombing as well as spying capabilities.
These claims by Sullivan coincided with yesterday's announcement by the Kremlin's press representative, Dmitry Peskov, about the tripartite meeting in Tehran. The Turkish president, who has declared himself the central mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, had a phone call on Monday with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the situation in the country and the continuation of grain exports.
The press representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Nasser Kanani, did not deny the American claims of defense cooperation between Russia and Iran. "Our high-tech cooperation predates the war in Ukraine. There has been no shocking development in the Moscow-Tehran relationship since then," Kanani said.
Reuters
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