US military officials on Thursday showed UN member states what they said were pieces of Iranian drones recovered in Ukraine, evidence of growing ties between Iran and Russia, the Pentagon said.
The US mission to the UN said that representatives from more than 40 countries attended the event.
US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officials said that the debris included parts of Iranian Shahed 101, Shahed 131 and Shahed 136 drones found in Ukraine.
Photo:Reuters
“These are not replicas. These are the real thing,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at the event, according to her office. “These are the weapons of war that Iran has transferred to malign actors.”
“Iranian officials have made no secret of their ambition to expand the sale of these attack drones,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “And now, they are in Russian hands, being used against civilians in Europe.”
Tehran has denied Western accusations that it is supplying Russia with large quantities of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), some armed, to use in its invasion of Ukraine.
DIA officials in August showed pieces of what they said were Iranian drones recovered in Ukraine in Washington.
This time, they displayed the shells of two Shahed 131s, one they said was used in Ukraine in the fall of last year and the other found in Iraq in 2021.
“Iran lies and we want to push back on Russian war in Ukraine,” said a DIA analyst, who gave four journalists a preview of the display on Wednesday evening.
Describing the Iran-Russia relationship as “deeply disturbing,” the analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed to the two drones’ similar design and components as proof Iran made them both.
Further evidence that the two UAVs are both Iranian is their “honeycomb structure,” another military intelligence official said.
“We are almost certain that Iran is the only country to use the honeycomb-like structure,” the second official said.
From battlefields in Syria to Ukraine, the “burgeoning” military ties between Russia and Iran are a source of concern for Washington, US Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich said in Abu Dhabi at the end of last month.
Britain also participated in the event at the US mission to the UN, with officials also presenting evidence of what they said were missiles and components bearing Iranian markings and serial numbers.
They were Iranian weapons seized in the Gulf of Oman and intended for Houthi rebels in Yemen, London said.
“You have here in this room the very capable conventional military [that is] emblematic from Iran,” said the second official, who described Iran as a “destabilizing threat.”
“We must continue to work together to hold Iran accountable,” Thomas-Greenfield said at the event. “We are not afraid to discuss these matters in public, but we need your partnership. We need your voices.”
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