US says Iranian military helping Russians in Crimea
"We believe that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations," said US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
REUTERS - JIM BOURG
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Iranian soldiers are "on the ground in Crimea" to help Russian forces carry out attacks using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine, the White House said Thursday (October 20th).
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With our correspondent in Washington
,
Guillaume Naudin
The spokesman for the American National Security Council, John Kirby, affirms that there are indeed a relatively small number of people, mainly trainers and technical personnel to help with the use of the drones provided by Iran in Russia, which did not find them effective enough.
The United States claims that these Iranian personnel are in Crimea, Ukrainian territory illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. On the other hand, it is indeed Russians who pilot the drones and aim at Ukrainian targets, and in particular civilian targets.
"
Obviously, once again, we continue to see Iran complicit in exporting terror, not only to the Middle East region, but now to Ukraine as well,
" the Pentagon spokesman said .
, General Pat Ryder.
From a Department of Defense perspective, we will continue to work with the Ukrainians, with our allies and partners, to provide them with security assistance as they continue to fight and defend their country.
»
Since the first US reports that Iran is supplying drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, the Iranians have denied any involvement in the conflict.
For the Pentagon, it's very simple: they lie.
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