Most Security Council members support UN’s investigation into Russia's use of Iranian drones in Ukraine

A meeting of the Security Council convened on Wednesday at the request of Russia was devoted to this issue, Ukrinform reports

French Permanent Representative to the UN Nicolas de Rivière, said: "The facts are clear: Iran has provided drones to Russia, using them in its aggressive war and indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets. These facts, which can be considered war crimes, are firmly documented."

He emphasized that Iran's supply of weapons is prohibited by UN Security Council Resolution 2231 of July 20, 2015. Clause 4 of this document requires prior approval by the Security Council of such supplies.

De Rivière noted that France demands that Iran immediately stop any support for the aggressive war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine. He also called on the UN Secretariat to conduct an appropriate investigation so that the Secretary-General would include the data obtained in the report on the implementation of Resolution 2231.

According to de Rivière, earlier, at a closed meeting of members of the Security Council, a representative of the Russian Federation stated that Moscow uses its drones. "Therefore, it is difficult to understand why Russia does not want us to examine the wreckage (of drones - ed.) together with experts."

Russia does not respect Article 100 of the UN Charter and the independence of the secretariat. "What's more, it is Russia that is resorting to blackmail, threatening to sever relations with the UN if the secretariat does not obey its will," the diplomat noted.

According to James Kariuki, the deputy ambassador of Great Britain to the UN, by bringing this issue to the attention of the Security Council, the Russian Federation is trying to divert attention from its crimes on the territory of Ukraine. "Russia and Iran, which violated resolution 2231, were caught red-handed, and now Moscow is inventing arguments because they cannot defend their actions," he said.

Among the members of the Security Council, the idea of investigating under the auspices of the UN was also supported by the USA, Albania, Ireland, Norway, Ghana, Mexico, the UAE, and Kenya (that is, at least 10 of the 15 members).

It should be noted that on October 14, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, sent a letter to Secretary-General António Guterres and members of the UN Security Council, in which he expressed a request from the Ukrainian side to send experts to our country to inspect the use of drones.

In the letter, Kyslytsya noted that according to published information, "Unmanned aerial vehicles of the Mohajer and Shahed series were transferred from Iran to Russia" at the end of August, and "Ukraine assesses that this is probably part of Iran's plans to export hundreds of UAVs to Russia."

According to the diplomat, both models of drones fall under the category of prohibited weapons, as they have a flight range equal to or greater than 300 kilometers. In addition, the Mohajer series UAVs are produced by Qods Aviation, which the UN and its assets blacklist are subject to freezing by all countries.