Iran To Deliver Armed Drones to Russia for Ukraine War

Iran will provide hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, including armed drones, to Russia for its war on Ukraine, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday. The US also has information indicating that Iran was preparing to train Russia’s military as early as this month on the use of these UAVs. “Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline,” Sullivan told reporters. Sullivan also said Iran had provided similar drones to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who used them in attacks on Saudi Arabia before a cease-fire was reached earlier this year. The release of this information by the White House just as US President Joe Biden makes his way to the region has been interpreted as a signal to Jerusalem and Riyadh, neither of which has been particularly enthusiastic about joining global efforts to isolate Moscow. The message out of Washington seems to be that perhaps it’s time for Israel and Saudi Arabia to abandon their strategic neutrality in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict and more clearly side with the party that isn’t being armed by their regional nemesis, Iran.