The White House says the Iranian military has visited Crimea to assist with Russian operations targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine using drones.
John Kirby, communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said the presence of Iranian personnel is evidence of Tehran’s direct involvement in the conflict.
“We can confirm that Russian military personnel based in Crimea are piloting Iranian UAVs, using them to carry out attacks across Ukraine, including attacks against Kiev,” Kirby said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.
THE CNN previously reported that Iranian military personnel were sent to Crimea to train Russian forces.
“Iranian military was on the ground in Crimea and helped with these operations,” he said. “Russia has received dozens of UAVs so far and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future.”
The US said earlier that Russia was obtaining drones from Iran, but had not previously disclosed that Iranian personnel are on the ground assisting in the use of the weapons.
Kirby said there was a “relatively small number” of Iranian officials on site.
“Tehran is now directly engaged on the ground and through the supply of weapons that are impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, which are killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine,” he said.
He said the Russians were not familiar with the use of drones and needed the help of Iranian personnel to use them.
He said the US is now concerned that Russia is trying to acquire additional weapons, including surface-to-surface missiles, from Iran. He said Iran and Russia continue to lie about their partnership.
“They can lie to the world, but they certainly can’t hide the facts,” he said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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