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Iran keeps its drones in secret underground locations, reports say.
A US official said that Iran plans to provide Russia with hundreds of drones to help it in its war in Ukraine, some of them with combat capabilities.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that information received by the United States indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use drones.
Sullivan added that it was not clear whether Iran had delivered the planes to Russia.
Iran said its technological cooperation with Russia predates the war. However, it neither confirmed nor denied Sullivan’s allegations of Moscow increasing drones to fight in Ukraine.
“There is no special development in this relationship recently,” the Iranian Fars news agency quoted Nasser Kinani Shafi, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, as saying.
Drones play a key role in the war for both Ukraine and Russia.
The US allegations come just days after Ukraine requested a donation of thousands of drones to help Russia’s war on it.
The Ukrainian and Russian militaries use these aircraft to locate the enemy, which helps direct artillery fire towards specific targets.
Sullivan added that the intelligence received by the United States supports the view that Russia’s attack on eastern Ukraine “comes at the expense of maintaining its weapons.”
He also noted that Houthi rebels in Yemen have previously used Iranian drones to attack Saudi Arabia.
Sullivan’s comments came before US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week. Neither country has yet joined the sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine.
Israel views Iran, which it calls for its elimination, as its biggest regional threat.
The United States and other allies have supplied Ukraine with billions of dollars in weapons since the invasion began in February.
Sullivan said the United States would continue to “maintain an effective defense of Ukraine.”