Iran preparing to hand over hundreds of drones to Russia – U.S. national security adviser

The U.S. has information that Russia may receive hundreds of drones from Iran to use in the war against Ukraine.

This was stated by U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, writes Yevropeiska Pravda online media.

"The information we have indicates that the Iranian authorities are preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including armed ones, in an expedited manner," he said.

According to him, it is not known which of these drones have already been transferred to the Russian Federation, but there is information that the corresponding exercises for the Russian military may begin as early as July.

Jake Sullivan said this could be taken as evidence that Russia's use of heavy bombing, which contributed to its success in the east, has implications for Russia's support for its own weapons.

Iran has already provided similar drones to rebels in Yemen, he said.

Sullivan's comments came ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, where Iran's nuclear program and unfriendly activities in the region should be key topics of conversation. Israel and Saudi Arabia have not yet joined the countries trying to punish the Russian Federation for the war against Ukraine.

According to military analyst Samuel Bendett of the CNA think tank, Russia's appeal to Iran is logical because Iran has been working on the development and improvement of its drones for more than two decades and they have more combat experience than Russians. In particular, Iran knows how to make "kamikaze drones" like the Switchblade, which the United States transferred to Ukraine.

As Bendett notes, there are known examples of Iranian drones flying hundreds of kilometers and successfully hitting their targets and could be effective in hitting Ukrainian power plants, oil depots and other critical infrastructure.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed ambassadors to Iran, Georgia, Slovakia, Portugal, Lebanon, and appointed one to New Zealand.

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