Iranian Forces in Crimea Supporting Russian Drone Attack

Washington – The White House said Thursday that the US has evidence that Iranian forces are “directly engaged on the ground” in Crimea Russian drone attack on Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Iran had a “relatively small number” of Crimea, part of Ukraine unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014 in violation of international law. He said he had sent personnel. Ukraine.

Members of a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have been sent to assist the Russian military on how to use the drones, according to a British government statement.

“The information we have is that the Iranians have deployed trainers and technical support in Crimea, but it’s the Russians who are doing the pilots,” Kirby said.

He added that the Biden administration is considering imposing new sanctions on Tehran and will explore ways to make it more difficult for Tehran to sell such weapons to Russia.

The US first revealed this summer that Russia was buying Iranian drones to launch them at Ukraine. Iran denies selling munitions to Russia.

U.S. officials believe Iran may have sent military personnel to help Russia. The Russians faced technical problems with Iranian drones shortly after delivering the weapons in August, according to declassified US intelligence findings.

“The system itself failed and was clearly not up to the standards our customers had come to expect,” says Kirby. “Therefore Iran decided to introduce some trainers and some technical support to help the Russians use them with higher lethality.”

The Biden administration has released details about Iran’s involvement in aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine at a delicate time. It also imposed new sanctions on Iran over the government’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in recent weeks.

Morality police detained Amini last month for not properly covering her hair with the Islamic headscarf known as the hijab, which is mandatory for Iranian women. She Amini collapsed at the police station and she died three days later.

her death and the turmoil that followed The administration has come to try to re-coerce Iran to the nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration and broken by the Trump administration.

But Kirby said there was little hope the administration would revive the Iran nuclear deal anytime soon.

“We are not focused on diplomacy at the moment,” Kirby said. “Our focus is on ensuring that the administration treats peaceful protesters in their own countries and holds them accountable for how they support those protesters.”

The White House has spoken of Iran’s support for Russia as Britain announced new sanctions on Iranian officials and companies on Thursday as Russia uses drones to bomb civilian infrastructure. .

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said in a statement, “These cowardly drone attacks are a desperate act.” We will ensure that they are held accountable for their actions.”

Among the individuals hit by an asset freeze and travel ban by the UK was Maj. Brigadier General Sayyed Hojatra Qureishi, a key Iranian negotiator in the deal. and Brigadier General Saeed Aghajani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Forces UAV Command.

Shahed Aviation Industries, the Iranian manufacturer of drones used by Russia, was also affected by the asset freeze.