The United States believes that Russian officials have started training on drones in Iran over the last multiple weeks as the Russia-Ukraine war continues.
A US official has reportedly told CNN, “During the last several weeks, Russian officials conducted training in Iran as part of the agreement for UAV transfers from Iran to Russia,” adding that the intelligence regarding the training has been disclosed only recently.
Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had said that Russia had “no comments on the matter” of Iran supplying drones to Russia for assisting Moscow’s army.
CNN reported that a Russian delegation had visited an airfield in Iran two times since June to examine the weapons-capable drones, according to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
The US officials have also revealed to the media outlet that Iran had started showcasing the Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones also known as UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, to Russia at Kashan Airfield south of Tehran in June.
In July, US NSA had said that Washington believed Iran was intending to sell Russia “hundreds” of drones amid the war in Ukraine.
Both Tehran and Moscow had rejected the claims.
