Pentagon warns Iran not to aid Russia's war against Ukraine
Rare rebuke comes after White House declassified intelligence revealing Moscow's interest in Iran's fleet of armed drones.
The Pentagon issued a rare public warning to Iran on Wednesday against a potential transfer of hundreds of unmanned drones to Russia for use in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.
“We would advise Iran not to do that,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at the Pentagon today. “We think it’s a really, really bad idea. And I’ll leave it at that.”
The context: The Iranian government has aimed to provide Moscow with hundreds of armed drones for use in Ukraine “on an expedited timeline,” the White House revealed last week.
Russian delegations have twice visited Kashan Airfield south of Tehran over the past month to view Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones, both of which can be outfitted with precision-guided missiles, CNN reported.
