Iran likely to change its approach to Ukraine conflict
The source recalled that Iran had repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and for settling the conflict through dialogue
Iran may change its policy toward the conflict in Ukraine following a Ukrainian presidential administration official’s remarks about the attack on the Iranian defense ministry facility in Isfahan, the Nournews portal reported on Monday, citing an Iranian official.
“If the hostile statements of the adviser to the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, against Iran are not corrected by the official authorities of this country, it can lead to different reactions by Iran,” the official was quoted as saying.
The source recalled that Iran had repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and for settling the conflict through dialogue. “While the government of Ukraine has accused Iran of providing arms support to Russia during the Ukraine war by inciting its Western partners based on false statements, it has not yet been able to provide any documents to prove its claim,” he said, adding that Podolyak’s remarks could be interpreted as an implicit recognition of Ukraine’s involvement in the Isfahan attack.
“Ukraine’s emphasis on the threat to Iran’s national security can be the basis for examining the change of positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the war in Ukraine and adopting a new approach that is appropriate to the behavior of the Kiev government,” the source stressed.
On January 29, Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential administration head, once again accused Iran of supplying drones to the combat operations zone in Ukraine and indirectly recognized Kiev’s involvement in Saturday’s drone attack in Isfahan. “Explosive night in Iran – drone & missile production, oil refineries. Ukraine did warn you,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
Following this tweet, the Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador for an explanation of Podolyak’s remarks, according to the Tasnim news agency. Later, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani slammed Podolyak’s remarks as suspicious and demanded official and clear explanations from Kiev. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oleg Nikolenko vowed that the ministry has no information about the causes of the explosion in Isfahan.
The Washington Post reported in August 2022 that Iran was allegedly supplying Russia with drones. Later, the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on a number of Iranian individuals and legal entities who were said to be behind drone supplies to Russia.
Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly refuted reports about Iranian drone supplies and their use in Ukraine. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov blasted these reports as bogus and stressed that the Russian army uses domestically-made drones.
