Despite Iran's lies, Shahed drones prove to be "lethal" addition to Russian aggression against Ukraine Mavrov and Zhovtenko talk to Caliber.Az

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani called allegations about Iranian drone exports to Russia groundless. He said, "Any attempt to link the war in Ukraine to bilateral cooperation between Iran and Russia is an act that pursues purely political goals. As we have said officially several times, claims of Iranian drones being exported to Russia for use against Ukraine are baseless. Unfortunately, the West is trying to continue its ineffective and unsuccessful policy of imposing sanctions on the Iranian people based on political motives and resorting to false and unproven allegations. Tehran reserves the right for tit-for-tat move."

The EU recently blacklisted six Iranian nationals as part of new sanctions and banned exports to the IRI of components used to make drones.

Counterbalancing Kanani's words were facts from the speaker of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (GID), Andriy Yusov, in an interview with Novini.LIVE.

"On average, within one batch, Russia receives from Iran between 50 and 120 Shahed-136 attack drones. The batch of 1,600, which the enemy ordered from Iran as early as last year, was not delivered one step at a time. It was divided into smaller batches. Cooperation with Iran in this direction is continuing, new batches are arriving and the Shaheds will still pester Ukraine," Yusov said.

When the journalist asked whether Ukraine would prevent the construction of a factory for the production of Shaheds on Russian territory, Yusov replied that work on this was currently underway. "What poses a danger to Ukraine and its citizens must be neutralised in one way or another," Yusov assured.

Why Iran resorts to these shameless lies about drones, repeated month after month? After all, Tehran denies the obvious to everyone. President Zelenskyy has already made a direct appeal to the people of Iran in which he called on them to refuse to support the Russian Federation but for some reason all to no avail. Is it not enough for Iran to have an already poor image in the global arena?

Ukrainian experts shared their opinion about it with Caliber.Az.

Ukrainian orientalist Grigory Mavrov believes that Iran acts like any authoritarian-totalitarian state for which truth is a lie and a lie is a truth. In other words, everything according to Orwell: "War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength."

"Russia acts in a similar way, regularly accusing Ukraine of crimes committed by Russian occupiers. We all remember this from Bucha and many other settlements where the occupants committed genocide against the Ukrainian people. Therefore, in general, everything is more or less clear here.

As for Tehran specifically, it is important for this regime to conclude an agreement with the West and start the process of lifting sanctions. They have been living as a pariah state for 40 years and, unlike Moscow, have not only learned to cope with this on their own but have long ago realised that isolation is backwardness and degradation. This is why Tehran regularly denies military aid to Moscow. Just the other day, CIA Director William Burns expressed concern about the strengthening of ties in the field of military cooperation between Iran and Russia. His statement followed the American deployment of a Marine expeditionary unit, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets, and a missile destroyer in the Arabian Gulf. At the same time, Iran has not given up hope of reaching an agreement with Western countries and is ready to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for some easing of sanctions and unfreezing of assets.

What is interesting is that Iran is ready to discuss its role in Russia's war against Ukraine; information about this appeared back in February this year. Burns also said that Iran doubts the expediency of supplying its ballistic missiles to Russia because it fears the reaction of the US and EU countries," the orientalist says.

Thus, denying military aid to Moscow is part of Tehran's long strategy to reduce sanctions pressure and unseize their assets, Mavrov notes.

"Recognising the provision of military aid to Moscow would mean a worsening of the negotiating position for Tehran and would further reduce the likelihood of sanctions being lifted from the regime. Many observers note the existence of debates within the Iranian establishment itself over drone deliveries and Tehran's role in the war. What these disagreements will lead to, we will be able to see in the very near future," Mavrov said.

Taras Zhovtenko, a Ukrainian security expert and military analyst at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, said that Iran continues to provide (and increase) direct military assistance to Russia, even despite the threat of sanctions and deepening international isolation.

"There are obviously several advantageous points here for Tehran.

First, Iran benefits from Russia's dependence on both direct military supplies and more symbolic political support. This allows the authorities in Tehran to potentially get more from Russia in terms of the technology Iran needs (primarily missile technology, with which the Iranians hope to further increase the range and accuracy of their missiles by building up military capabilities against Israel).

Secondly, Iran is thus testing its weapons in combat conditions, and testing them on modern Western systems similar to those used by Israel. This allows Tehran to quickly make engineering and design adjustments to the models already in production and to set up production of even more advanced prototypes.

Thirdly, Iran thus acts in the interests of a larger and more influential regional player - China (thus allowing Beijing to limit its illegal and verbal support to Moscow while maintaining at least the formal status of an 'honest broker'), from which Tehran can, in the long run, receive much more than from Russia, and to some extent compensate itself for losses from international sanctions and deepening isolation," Zhovtenko concluded.