Today, the US joined the UK and France in raising the issue of Iran’s transfer of UAVs to Russia at a meeting of the UN Security Council, where council members received expert briefings from the UN Secretariat on reports of the transfer of these dangerous weapons. We expressed our serious concerns about Russia’s acquisition of these UAVs from Iran in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
The US began warning in July that Iran was planning to transfer UAVs to Russia for use in Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, and we now have ample evidence that these UAVs are being used to attack Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure. As Iran continues to lie and refuse to deliver weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, we are committed to working with allies and partners to prevent the transfer of dangerous weapons to Russia. We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on anyone involved in these transfers. We will also continue to increase unprecedented security assistance to Ukraine, including air defense capabilities, so that Ukraine can defend itself against these weapons.
