Saturday, November 26, 2022

'Israel' gives Russia ultimatum over 'Iranian arms supplies' - reports

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The Israeli occupation threatens Russia with supplying arms to Ukraine if Moscow keeps on "taking drones from Iran".

The Israeli occupation may start pumping high-precision ballistic missiles into Ukraine if Russia does not put an end to its "cooperation with Iran", Israeli media said on Monday following discussions between Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi and the Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov.

Ben Zvi informed the Russian diplomat of the occupation's ultimatum in light of Moscow facing accusations for months that it has been getting its supply of drones from Iran, Israeli KAN public broadcaster reported.

A source in the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the head of the Israeli National Security Council, Eyal Hulata, warned Russia against the usage of Iranian drones, threatening Moscow with sending ballistic missiles to Kiev, which would be used against Russian positions or units.

Russia, according to the Ukrainian armed forces, has purchased the Iranian Arash-2 drones, a more powerful model than the Shahed-136 drones being seen in Kiev's skies.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during an online briefing a couple of weeks ago that he submitted a proposal to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to formally break off diplomatic ties with Tehran.

During the briefing, Kuleba accused Iran of having supplied weapons to Russia despite having no evidence to support his claims. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went as far as claiming that Russia was deploying almost 2,500 attack drones purchased from Iran.

Ukraine's accusations spiraled into the West adopting these claims, and now the United States is using the allegations as a card against Iran.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said admitted that Tehran gave a small batch of drones to Russia, but it was before the Ukraine war broke out.

Tehran's latest statements once again struck down the allegations as false, proving that the Iranian drones seen in Ukraine's airspace were not provided to Moscow as the war was ongoing. 

"We supplied Russia with a limited number of drones months before the war in Ukraine," the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying.

The top Iranian diplomat went on to remind how Tehran requested that Kiev provide it with proof and documentation of Moscow's use of Iranian UAVs.

Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier in November that it was necessary to conduct strikes on Iran due to Tehran allegedly supplying drones to Russia.

The fear the drones are inflicting on the Ukrainians has pushed Kiev to further seek air defense systems from its Western allies.

The usage of drones has prompted Ukraine's allies to come together in various ways to try and help Kiev, with Turkey and the United States sending in drones and the Israeli occupation providing Kiev with intelligence on the Iranian drones being used in Ukraine.

Iran and Ukraine were supposed to sit down and discuss the issue, but Kiev bailed out on the talks at the last second.

The Israeli occupation spent millions of dollars to appease its western partners by procuring undisclosed strategic materials for Ukraine after "Tel Aviv" faced pressure to send the arms to Kiev via a third country, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Reportedly, the United States is the party that pressured the occupation, which had to go against its proclaimed stance to only send humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Israeli occupation media reported in mid-September that an Israeli arms manufacturer was supplying anti-UAV systems to Ukraine via Poland, with the sales conducted through Warsaw to circumvent "Tel Aviv's" refusal to sell advanced arms to Ukraine.

Reportedly, the Biden administration demanded the occupation to switch from strictly providing humanitarian supplies and expanding its assistance to Ukraine and give military equipment, prompting "Tel Aviv" to fund the purchase of strategic materials for Ukraine, including air defense systems, Haaretz reported.

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