The United States, France and the United Kingdom plan to discuss Iran’s drone transfers to Russia at a closed UN Security Council meeting Wednesday, a US official told CNN.
The meeting comes as Russia has launched Iranian-made drones against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, killing several people.
The three countries have said that the transfer of Iranian-made drones is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which restricts certain arms transfers to or from Iran. It is unclear whether they will raise this specific point in the meeting tomorrow or move to snap back sanctions on Iran for the arms transfers.
“I think you probably saw earlier today, our French and British allies publicly offered the assessment that Iran’s supply of these UAVs to Russia is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, and this is something that we agree with,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Monday.
UNSCR 2231 was tied to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and elements of that resolution, including a ban on the transfer of conventional weapons, were phased out in 2020. The Trump administration attempted to unilaterally snap back the arms embargo in September 2021 and the Biden administration told the UN Security Council it was reversing those efforts in February 2021.
Patel noted that UNSCR 2231 prohibits the transfer from Iran of all items, materials, equipment and goods and technology unless approved in advance by the UN Security Council on a case-by-case basis.
He also said the range of the drones being greater than 300 kilometers (186 miles) put them in violation of the resolution.
