The Iranian military is manning Crimea and training Russian forces how to operate the drones that are crippling Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, the White House said Thursday.
“They can lie to the world, but they cannot hide the facts. Kirby told reporters.
According to U.S. and Ukrainian officials, Russia began purchasing Shah-136 (Kamikaze drones) from Iran this summer and used them to strike Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine.
Kirby said Iran sent a “relatively small number” of “trainers and technical support” to Crimea after the Russian military struggled to pilot the drones properly.
“The system itself was failing and it was clearly not up to the standards our customers had come to expect,” Kirby said Thursday.
Russia uses Iranian-made ‘Kamikaze drones’ to strike around Kyiv
Russia seized southern Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has been using the area as a military base since its invasion in February.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that about a third of the country’s power plants have been destroyed by drones and missiles since October 10, complicating Ukraine’s defenses heading into the winter. .
Iran’s support in Crimea comes as the US imposes new sanctions on Iran over the death of a 22-year-old woman amid the regime’s violent crackdown on moral police and protests. because it imposes
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Biden administration has also spent months trying to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, but Kirby appears to have dismissed hopes of reaching a deal on Thursday.
“We are not focused on diplomacy at the moment,” Kirby told reporters. “Our focus is on making sure that the administration treats peaceful protesters in their own countries and holds them accountable for how they support those protesters.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.