Iran takes U-turn on sending drones to Russia amid war in Ukraine, says 'Gave limited...'

The Russia-Ukraine war has made the whole world anxious. While the threat of the use of nuclear weapons dangles like a sword, the conflict between the two has deteriorated massively since August. Among the numerous issues of contention between the two sides that caused the whole world to talk, one such issue was regarding the drones Russia sent to the Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilians.

After denying and claiming neutrality, Iran is now admitting to sending drones to Russia. However, Iran insists that the drones were sent months before the war broke out. This revelation comes after a string of confusing messages from Iran about the shipment of the weapons. 

Is Iran maintaining neutrality? 

The world received clarity regarding the "kamikaze" Shahed-136 drones which Ukraine claims have been used in the war. On Saturday Hossein Amirabdollahian, the country's Foreign Minister acknowledged for the first time that his country supplied Russia with these drones. Sky News reported, while speaking to the reporters in Tehran Amirabdollahian said, "We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war," the assertion which was previously denied. 

The western bloc accused Iran of providing Russia with drones. The western allies in the UN security council called on the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine. Vehemently denying the allegations Iran’s ambassador to UN  Amir Saeid Iravani, called the allegations "totally unfounded" reiterating Iran's position of neutrality in the war. Hinting a different stance from the one that the UN ambassador took last week, the Iranian paramilitary, Revolutionary Guard, boasted about providing drones to Russia. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamen also went on to mock the west over the issue. 

The Foreign Minister previously maintained the stance of neutrality, stating. "If (Ukraine) has any documents in their possession that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine, they should provide them to us,” emphasising the fact that if the accusation is proven to be true then Iran will not “remain indifferent to the issue.” But taking a U-Turn from the previous stance the country now puts itself in a very uncomfortable position. The world might now look at their neutral stance suspiciously.