Ukraine strips diplomatic ties with Iran over supply of ‘evil’ drones to Russia’s war effort

Kyiv has stripped files Diplomatic relations with Iran Because of its “evil” cooperation with Russia after Ukrainian forces shot down at least eight drones supplied by Tehran.

In a Friday night speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky He said Iran’s ambassador to Ukraine, Manouchehr Moradi, had been stripped of his accreditation and the number of Iranian employees allowed to stay at the Iranian embassy in Kyiv had been “significantly reduced.”

Reuters reported that the notice of the ambassador’s dismissal was apparently delivered to the acting ambassador because Moradi was not in Ukraine at the time of the decision.

“Today, the Russian army used Iranian drones in its strikes. The world will know about every case of cooperation with evil, and it will have similar consequences,” Zelensky said.

White House accuses Iran of providing ‘hundreds of hundreds’ of drones to Russia

Ukrainian officials said that samples collected on Friday verified the use of drones to target Odessa and an area in central Ukraine north of Zaporizhia, known as the Dnipropetrovsk region, which is Iranian-made.

“Such actions by Iran are considered a step against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as against the life and health of Ukrainian citizens,” Zelensky office spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov said in a statement.

This undated photo released by the Ukrainian Army’s Strategic Communications Department shows the wreckage of what Kyiv described as an Iranian Shahed UAV that was shot down near Kobyansk, Ukraine.
(Directorate of Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Army via AP)

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US sanctions implicate Iranian ‘persons’ in shipping drones to Russia

The White House first announced in July that Iran would give Russia hundreds of drones as Moscow’s ability to rearm its forces in Ukraine wanes.

Western defense officials It later confirmed in September that the Muhajir-6 and Shahed series of aircraft had been shipped from Tehran to Russia.

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Both chains appear to have made their way to the front lines in Ukraine as officials allegedly verified both on Friday.

The United States has already imposed sanctions on several people and entities involved in the supply and shipment of killer drones to Moscow.