John Kirby, White House National Security Adviser
Reuters – The White House said on Friday that Russia may be deepening its defense cooperation with Iran and that Moscow has received hundreds of one-way strike drones being used to target Ukraine.
Citing recently released information, the White House said the drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, for short) were built in Iran, flown across the Caspian Sea and then used by Russian forces against Ukraine.
“Russia has been using Iranian drones in recent weeks to attack Kiev and terrorize the Ukrainian population, and the Russian-Iranian military partnership appears to be deepening,” White House spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
We are also concerned that Russia is working closely with Iran to produce Iranian drones from within Russia.
Kirby said the United States had information that Russia was receiving materials from Iran needed to build a fully operational drone factory by early next year.
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The United States has previously imposed sanctions on Iranian executives at a defense contractor that supplies drones to Russia. At the time, Iran acknowledged sending drones to Russia, but said they were sent before the invasion of Ukraine in February.
Moscow denied that its forces had used Iranian drones in Ukraine. A White House official said Iran had transferred several hundred drones to Russia since August.
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