John Kirby, communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said Tuesday that the United States has not received any information that Russia has purchased Iranian drones to use in the war on Ukraine.
In early July, the White House warned that Iran could provide Russia with "hundreds" of drones -- including armed ones -- for use in the Ukraine war, and that Iran was preparing to start training Russian troops to operate the drones. as early as this month.
"We have no evidence that the sales actually happened. So we have no evidence that they were trained," Kirby said at a White House news briefing.
“Well, a lot depends on it — how much he buys, what skills they have. But the Iranians have domestic drone production capabilities, and those drones are lethal,” he continued. "We've seen this firsthand in their attacks on our own troops and our facilities there in Iraq and Syria. So we're watching it closely and taking it seriously."Last week, CNN reported that a Russian delegation had visited an airport in central Iran at least twice in the past month to inspect armed drones.
U.S. officials told CNN that Iran began displaying Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones, also known as UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicles, to Russia in June at Kashan airport, south of Tehran. Both types of drones are capable of carrying precision-guided missiles.
Kirby said Tuesday that it "shows how desperate Mr Putin has become with his defense industrial base and how far he wants to continue the war," he said.
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