TEHRAN, October 26. /TASS/. Tehran views a UN probe into purported use of Iranian drones in Ukraine as illegal, the country’s envoy to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, has said in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Earlier, the United Kingdom, Germany and France sent a letter to the UN Secretariat, requesting to conduct a probe into allegations of Iran’s drone supplies to Russia for subsequent use during its special operation in Ukraine. Those countries assert that UN Security Council Resolution 2231 prohibits Iran from selling certain types of products without a prior approval of the UN Security Council. The resolution’s provisions are not applicable to drones, but the three Western nations believe that the UN Secretariat may initiate an inquiry into the matter.
In a letter to the UN secretary-general, published by the IRNA news agency on Tuesday, the Iranian envoy said the information presented by the three nations was "misleading and arbitrary."
In his opinion, the authors of the request are seeking to establish "an entirely artificial linkage between that resolution and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine so as to seemingly justify their unfounded claims against my Country."
"Regarding the request to the Secretariat to conduct a so-called "investigation" in the context of resolution 2231 to assess the type of unmanned aerial vehicles used in the current conflict in Ukraine, I would like to underline that the resolution itself provides no legal basis for such an investigation," Iravani said.
"Against this backdrop, Iran cautions the Secretariat against conducting such an illegal investigation or engaging in any activity that advances and implements the Western States’ ‘instructions,’" he added.
Ukraine and Western nations accuse Iran of supplying Russia with drones for use in Ukraine, which they claim is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program. They request sending a UN mission o Ukraine to look into the origins of UAVs used on its territory.
Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky told reporters the UN Secretariat has no mandate for conducting inquiries of this kind, and, if a positive decision is made on the matter, Russia will re-assess its collaboration with the Secretariat.