RF Delegation Visited Iran Several Times To Inspect Its Combat Drones - CNN

A Russian delegation has visited the Kashan airfield in central Iran at least twice in the past month to study the Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 combat drones, which can be armed with precision missiles. This is stated in the material posted on the CNN portal.

"Our assessment is that the official Russian delegation recently had a demonstration of Iranian strike-capable UAVs... We released these images taken in June showing the Iranian UAVs that the Russian government delegation saw that day. This indicates Russia's interest in acquiring Iranian UAVs capable of attacking," said Jake Sullivan, U.S. President's National Security Adviser.

At the same time, Sullivan said that, as far as the U.S. knows, the June visit was the first time a Russian delegation visited this airfield for such a demonstration.

Later, a group of Russians visited the airfield again for a similar demonstration already on July 5.

CNN clarifies that this information appeared during the tour of U.S. President Joe Biden to the Middle East, where Iran was a key topic of discussion between the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia and the countries of the Persian Gulf. A U.S. official told CNN that the growing partnership between Iran and Russia is an example of why the U.S. needs to maintain its presence and influence in the Middle East.