Speaking to reporters, Amir Abdollahian said, “What our nation has seen over the last 40 days was the implementation of the very Plan B that the Americans wanted to pursue. But they failed in this regard due to the nation’s intuition and the guidance of the supreme leader.”
Iranian Foreign Minister also responded to Western allegations that Iran provided Russia with drones and missiles for use in the Ukraine war.
He said the West’s kerfuffle over the provision of missiles is entirely wrong, while the issues pertaining to the drones are right, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
“We provided a limited number of drones to Russia months before the start of the Ukraine war. And we agreed with the Ukrainian foreign minister that if you have any evidence of Russia using Iranian drones in Ukraine, give us the evidence,” he added.
He said this was agreed two weeks ago in a European country and a political and defense delegation from Iran went to that European country for a meeting with Ukrainian officials but the Ukrainian side called off the meeting in the last minute.
“The reason for the absence of the Ukrainian side was that the United States and some European countries, especially Germany, asked Ukraine not to participate in this meeting. They told the Ukrainian officials that while we want to impose sanctions against Iran over the provision of drones to Russia, you want to drink coffee with Iranians in a European country!” Amir Abdollahian said.
He added, “After that, in the telephone conversation that we had with the foreign minister of Ukraine last week, we agreed that if there is any evidence, they will provide us with it, and if the Ukrainian side sticks to its promise, we will be able to examine this issue in the coming days, and their evidence will be taken into consideration.”
In the phone conversation between Amir Abdollahian and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, the two sides discussed the latest developments related to the Ukraine crisis and bilateral topics.
Amir Abdollahian strongly dismissed the claims about the use of Iranian drones in the war in Ukraine, saying, “The Islamic Republic has had the experience of the eight-year imposed war and is thus opposed to war in Ukraine, Yemen, and elsewhere.”
The
Iranian foreign minister said, “We have good ties with Russia and we have had
defense cooperation from the past, but our policy toward the Ukraine war is to
respect the territorial integrity of countries, not to send weapons to the
conflicting parties, and to stop the war and the people’s displacement.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s policy is fully transparent, is based on a unified standard, and is against war,” he said, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.
“We are ready for convening technical sessions with the participation of military experts between the two countries, without the need for any intermediary,” the foreign minister added.
He described the statements of some Western officials as baseless and referred to Tehran’s recurrent efforts to help bring about a ceasefire, adding, we stand ready to help establish a truce.
“I believe Ukraine had better be careful not be influenced by some radical politicians in Europe,” the top diplomat said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, in turn, praised the Islamic Republic of Iran’s position on not dispatching arms for use in the Ukraine war, saying talks between technical military delegations of the two countries are important.
He pointed to Ukraine’s independence in its foreign relations and said his country does not take action under the influence of others.
The chief diplomat explained the consequences of war in his country and said Ukraine strives to safeguard the security and activities of embassies in accordance with international conventions.
Iran has said it does not support any side in the Ukraine
war. It has said it support the settlement of the Ukraine crisis through
dialogue and political ways. However, the West leveled accusations against Iran
over the alleged provision of weaponry to Russia.
