Moscow has warned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres against any « illegal investigation » into an alleged transfer of Iranian drones to Russia
Russia has accused the West of trying to distract from its involvement in Ukraine’s military conflict by trying to launch an investigation into alleged drone transfers from Iran. Moscow’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said on Wednesday that Russia may have to « reevaluate [its] Cooperation » with the United Nations Secretariat if it decides to participate in such investigations.
His warning came in response to accusations that Iran supplied Moscow with drones in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which implements the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Plan d Joint Global Action (JCPOA).
Polyansky insisted the drone controversy had nothing to do with the nuclear deal and pointed out that the UN Secretariat doesn’t even have the power to investigate anything related to the resolution 2231 of the UNSC.
“We hope that the secretariat and the secretary-general will not violate the decisions of the UN Security Council or go beyond their technical mandate and refrain from participating in any illegal investigation,” Polyansky told reporters after a closed Security Council meeting.
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“Otherwise, we will have to reassess our cooperation with them, which is in no one’s interest,” he added. he added, noting that Russia would prefer not to, but would have no other choice.
The United States, Britain, the EU and Ukraine say they have evidence that Tehran has delivered significant numbers of Shahed-136 drones to Russia, with kyiv putting the number at some 2,300 units.
However, Russia and Iran have repeatedly denied these accusations. Moscow insists that all weapons it uses in Ukraine come from its own stockpiles and that the drones used to carry out recent attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure were Russian-made Geran-2 (Geranium-2) drones.
Tehran, meanwhile, dismissed the West’s accusations as « unsubstantiated and unsubstantiated allegations », indicating that he supports a peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.
