Iran, backing Russia, claims Ukraine supplies weapons to Syrian rebels

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs complains that Ukraine is allegedly providing weapons to the rebels advancing in Syria and has called for an end to this support.

Source: the Iranian state news agency Mehre

Details: Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mojtaba Damirchiloo, citing unnamed and unverified reports, claimed that some Ukrainian officials are allegedly selling "US-sourced" weapons to Syrian rebels. 

"He termed these actions a blatant violation of international commitments related to the prevention and combat of terrorism and called for their immediate cessation," the news reads.

The Iranian official also addressed the war in Ukraine, condemning the "repeated and baseless claims made by Ukrainian officials about Iran's alleged role in the conflict [the war – ed]". 

He emphasised that "Tehran has consistently opposed the war from the very beginning", has no role in it, and has "always called for dialogue to find a diplomatic solution to the disagreements".

For reference: In August 2023, the American newspaper The Washington Post obtained internal documents about the operation of an Iranian drone production facility in the special economic zone Yelabuga in Russia's Tatarstan. According to the plan, the facility is set to produce 6,000 Shahed kamikaze drones by 2025.

Background: 

• On Thursday, 5 December, it was reported that Syrian rebels had succeeded in pushing pro-government forces out of the strategic city of Hama and taken control of it. 
• Over the past night, thousands of people fled the city of Homs in central Syria after rebels opposing Bashar al-Assad's regime advanced close to it. 
• In response to the ongoing fighting in Syria, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the "deepened" cooperation between Russia and Iran is destabilising the situation both in Europe and the Middle East.

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