Iran preparing to supply Russia with drones- White House

The United States believes Iran is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones, including some that are weapons capable, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday.

Sullivan also said the United States has information that shows Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these drones.

Drones in the Ukraine-Russia war

Russia has relied massively on drones in its invasion of Ukraine, and the government in Kyiv claims to have downed more than 600 of the aircraft, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Ukraine’s military has also used drones to attack Russian forces. Ukraine has been using several types of smaller shorter range unmanned aerial systems against Russian forces that invaded the country in late February. They include the AeroVironment AVAV.O RQ-20 Puma AE, and the Turkish Bayraktar-TB2.The US has included drones among the weapons it’s provided to Kyiv.

Iran-Russia relations

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER Sergei Lavrov (right) and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meet in Moscow, in March. Throughout modern history, Iran has followed in Russia’s footsteps in adopting almost identical approaches to politics, says the writer. (credit: MAXIM SHEMETOV/REUTERS)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Iran for a two-day trip late last month. The visit came after Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, invited him to Iran, as world powers and Tehran are struggling to revive their 2015 nuclear pact and negotiations are stalled.

Russia’s foreign ministry posted a clip of Lavrov’s opening remarks during a meeting with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi in which he said Moscow was adapting to what he called the West’s aggressive policies.

Last month Moscow said Russia and Iran, which are both under Western sanctions and sit on some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, had discussed swapping supplies for oil and gas as well as establishing a logistics hub.

Russia-Iran trade is increasing, and the Islamic Republic expects more Russian investment. According to Iran’s figures, the trade between the countries has doubled in the last several years. The Iranian ambassador to Russia “also announced that the Russian Export Development Center in Iran would be set up soon, and stressed the need for face-to-face and unmediated trade talks between the two countries’ businessmen,” according to a Fars News report.

Seth J. Frantzman contributed to this report.