Latest news on the war between Ukraine and Russia
Oct. 18 () –
The United States has claimed that Iran is lying when it says that Russia is not using Iranian-made drones to attack Ukrainian territory.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre explained at a press conference on Monday that Washington has evidence of the use of Iranian drones used by Moscow against both military and civilian targets.
“We have been warning since July that Iran was planning to sell unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia for use against Ukraine,” he recalled, referring to statements by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“We also publicly stated that Russia has received drones from Iran” as part of the Russian program, while “Russian operators continue to receive Iranian training on their use,” he continued.
“Therefore, there is a lot of evidence of its use by Russia against military and civilian targets,” he said.
In this line, Jean-Pierre has indicated that the investigations into the Russian attacks on the center of kyiv on Monday morning, indicated the possible use of a new Iranian unmanned aircraft.
“However, Iran continues to lie about this. They have not been truthful about it and deny that they provided weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine,” he said.
Biden’s spokeswoman has also criticized that Tehran is considering the sale of “even more destructive weapons to support the invasion they say they oppose.”
For this reason, Jean-Pierre reiterated Washington’s commitment to the application of sanctions on the arms trade “both to Russia and to Iran”. “From now on we will make it more difficult for Iran to sell these weapons to Russia”, he has expressed before assuring that they will support partners “from the entire region against the Iranian threat”.
CONDEMNS THE ACTION OF THE IRAN SECURITY FORCES
Jean-Pierre has reiterated his condemnation of the deaths and arrests by the Iranian authorities of peaceful demonstrators. “They have been taught with journalists, human rights activists, professors, cultural figures; in addition, the disconnection from the Internet continues,” he criticized after recalling that more than 200 people have died in the framework of the protests according to figures from organizations of Human rights.
“We have already announced sanctions from the Treasury Department, but we will also share more soon,” he assured.
“Meanwhile, with the talks on the nuclear deal aside, we will continue to confront Iran’s attitude in the region, to protect the brave people who demand basic rights,” he added, without indicating whether the deal negotiations have ended.
