The permanent mission of Iran to the United Nations has categorically rejected the “absurd” and “unfounded” claims raised by the United States that Tehran has sold drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.
The Iranian UN mission, in two identical letters addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and rotating President of the Security Council Ferit Hoxha, said Washington’s cynical attempt to establish an illusory link between the alleged use of drones in the Ukraine conflict and the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) to accuse Tehran of violating the resolution is “misleading and entirely unfounded.”
The resolution prohibits countries from receiving ballistic missiles and drones from Iran that have a range of more than 300 kilometers and a payload of more than 500 kilograms until October 2023.
The anti-Iran claims first emerged in July 2022, when US national security adviser Jake Sullivan alleged that Washington had received “information” indicating that the Islamic Republic was preparing to provide Russia with “up to several hundred drones, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline” for use in the war.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has rejected these unfounded and absurd allegations on several occasions and through various communications to the UN Security Council and the UN secretary-general, including a letter dated August 17, 2023 (S/2023/610). All of these phony charges are once again rejected,” Iran’s diplomatic mission added.
It said the US seeks not only to intentionally mislead the international community, but also to manipulate the mandate of the United Nations Secretariat for the sole purpose of serving its own political interests regardless of its ongoing and flagrant violations of Resolution 2231.
“We underscore once more that the United States’ repeated and unjustified request to the Secretariat to conduct the so-called investigation into the alleged violation of Resolution 2231 lacks a legal basis. Neither Resolution 2231 nor the relevant Note by the President of the Security Council (S/2016/44) authorize such an unlawful mandate,” the mission pointed out.
It called upon the Secretariat of the United Nations to diligently fulfill its mandate, as outlined in the note of the President of the Security Council (S/2016/44), resist yielding to the influence exerted by the United States and certain member states with regard to Article 100 of the UN Charter, and refrain from legitimizing baseless and politically motivated claims lacking proper substantiation.
The mission categorically rejected the identical baseless allegations made against Tehran by certain Security Council member states during the UN Security Council briefings under the so-called “Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and “Threats to international peace and security” agenda items, held on July 21 and 26, August 17 and September 12, as well as an unwarranted reference made to Iran in a joint statement by the US and certain states on August 30 regarding North Korea.
The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it “has consistently upheld its commitments under international law and the UN Charter, and maintains a clear and consistent position on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” the diplomatic mission noted.
