Iran unveils drone division in Indian Ocean as Biden tours Middle East
- The announcement came as the US president and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint pledge in Jerusalem to deny Iran nuclear arms
- Washington has said Tehran was preparing to train Russian forces to use the unmanned aerial vehicles
The TV report did not say how many vessels or drones were included in each unit, only that one ship carried 50 drones.
On Monday, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington believed that Iran was preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones, including some that are weapons capable, and that Tehran was preparing to train Russian forces to use them.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian denied Sullivan’s statement in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Iranian state media said.
“Amirabdollahian rejected the recent baseless accusations by (Sullivan) about Iranian drones being sent to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine, saying such claims coinciding with Biden’s visit to the occupied Palestinian territories were in line with specific political goals,” state media reported.
Iran has supplied unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to its allies in the Middle East.