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Top Iranian diplomat says plans to pay official visit to Moscow next week

Hossein Amir Abdollahian mentioned the planned visit, commenting on the allegations of Russian supplies of Iranian drones for use in Ukraine

TEHRAN, March 19. /TASS/. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Sunday that he plans to pay an official visit to Moscow next week.

He revealed his plans at a news conference in Tehran when asked to comment alleged supplies of Iranian drone to Russia for their further use in Ukraine. "Iran doesn’t support any of the parties to the conflict. <…> Three days ago I spoke with [EU foreign policy chief Josep] Borreall and conveyed a message to the Ukrainian side that next week I will go to Moscow for talks on security matters as part of Iran’s efforts geared to prevent a war," the Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.

The top Iranian diplomat also called on Kiev to drop its claims to Tehran and focus on dialogue.

Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly refuted allegations about the supplies of Iranian drones to Russia for their use in Ukraine. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov slammed such allegations as fake news and stressed that the Russian army uses domestically-made drones. In early November 2022, Amirabdollahian admitted that Iran had supplied drones to Russia, but in small quantities. Moreover, in his words, the drones had been supplied several months before the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine.

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