Kyiv (dpa-AFX) – The Ukrainian government has withdrawn the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador in Kyiv because of the delivery of combat drones to Russia. As a result, he can no longer meet his obligations in the host country and, following diplomatic practice, will probably have to return to Tehran. “In addition, the number of diplomatic staff at the Iranian embassy in Kyiv will be significantly reduced,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday. Just hours earlier, a person had died in a drone attack in the port city of Odessa.
At the end of August he had US Secret Service reported that Russia had bought Iranian drones to use in its war of aggression against Ukraine. Neither Moscow nor Tehran have officially confirmed the purchase. In the past few weeks, however, several Iranian-made drones have been shot down by the Ukrainians over the battlefields.
“Supplying arms to Russia to wage war against Ukraine is an unfriendly act that deals a serious blow to Ukraine-Iran relations,” the State Department said. The drone sales are also in direct contradiction to Tehran’s public stance of respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and remaining neutral in the war./bal/DP/jha