UNO: The United States, Britain, and France demanded on Friday that the UN look into Russia's alleged use of hundreds of drones supplied by Iran in the Ukrainian conflict, which would be against UN sanctions. However, given Russia's adamant opposition, it is unclear whether the UN will take this action.
Despite ample evidence that Russian drones have attacked Ukrainian cities, Russia continues to deny using Iranian drones.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted that this month, the US released additional information demonstrating Iran's provision of hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, also referred to as drones or UAVs, as well as machinery for their manufacture. Additionally, evidence of Iranian drones found by the Ukrainian military was provided to the UN by Ukraine and the UK, she said.
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After delivering the statement requesting an investigation, which was also signed by Albania and Ukraine, the US ambassador told the UN Security Council that "this is a matter of life or death for the Ukrainian people."
In addition to buying hundreds of MoHajjer and Shahed drones, the five nations charged Russia with breaking a Security Council resolution supporting the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers by collaborating with Iran to manufacture drones inside Russia.
According to the statement, the 2015 resolution forbids all nations from transferring such weapons from Iran without prior Security Council approval, which was not granted.
The US and its allies claimed that Russia had recently been terrorising and killing Ukrainian civilians while also attacking Kyiv and its infrastructure. The international community is calling on the UN more and more to look into these violations.
The UN Secretariat, led by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, is still reviewing information it has regarding "the alleged transfer of un-crewed aerial vehicles by Iran in a manner inconsistent" with the 2015 resolution, according to UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
He stated that a report from Guterres, which is soon to be expected, will be discussed by experts on the committee overseeing the resolution's implementation this month and by the 15 members of the Security Council in July. One of the five permanent members with veto power is Russia.
Reporters were given permission to launch an investigation by the secretary-general, according to Thomas-Greenfield. Haq made no mention of Guterres' intentions in this regard.
Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council that neither Russia nor Iran had received "an iota of credible evidence" regarding the use of Iranian drones from Ukraine. Nebenzia said, "We hope the secretary-general has enough intelligence not to be misled by our former Western partners.