White House Spokesman, John Kirby
Russia and Iran have strengthened their relations it seems, as Russia is receiving hundreds of one-way attack drones. It will be used against Ukraine says the White House. As per the reports of the White House, Iranian drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and transported all the way across the Caspian Sea and delivered to Russia. Russian forces are using the same against Ukraine.
White House spokesman issues a statement
White House spokesman John Kirby said in a statement, “Russia has been using Iranian UAVs in recent weeks to strike Kyiv and terrorize the Ukrainian population, and the Russia-Iran military partnership appears to be deepening.”
In addition to this, the US government is also concerned about the fact that Iran and Russia are working together to manufacture Iranian UAVs from inside Russia. He said, “We are also concerned that Russia is working with Iran to produce Iranian UAVs from inside Russia.”
US finds out the location of the manufacturing
According to the information gathered by the United States, the drone manufacturing plant will be able to start its operations in the coming year. Russia has been sourcing all the required material for the plant from Iran.
Mr. Kirby stated, “We are releasing satellite imagery of the planned location of this UAV manufacturing plant in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone.” Hence, it is evident that the US has a fairly clear idea of Russia’s plan.
Iran has even accepted that they sent drones to Russia but they say that the drones were sent prior to the attack on Ukraine. However, Moscow has denied that its forces used Iranian drones.
Two-way transactions between Iran and Russia
According to Kirby, support between Iran and Russia was reciprocal, with Iran requesting helicopters and radars from Russia valued at billions of dollars.
Kirby said, “Russia has been offering Iran unprecedented defense cooperation, including on missiles, electronics, and air defense.”
“This is a full-scale defense partnership that is harmful to Ukraine, to Iran’s neighbors, and to the international community. We are continuing to use all the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt these activities including by sharing this with the public – and we are prepared to do more,” he added
