US intelligence officials say Iran and Russia continue to strengthen their military cooperation and weapons assistance.
The United States has accused the Iranian government of helping Russia build a drone factory near Moscow, in an escalation of its defense cooperation.
In a statement Friday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby cited US intelligence findings that indicated Iran had provided material support to the plant, which could be operational early next year.
US officials are also doubling down on claims that Iran has sent hundreds of drones — or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — to Russia for use in Ukraine, where a full-scale invasion was launched in 2022.
“Russia has been using Iranian UAVs to attack Kiev and terrorize the Ukrainian population in recent weeks, and the military partnership between Russia and Iran appears to be deepening,” Kirby said in Friday’s statement.
“We are also concerned that Russia is collaborating with Iran to produce Iranian UAVs from Russia.”
The administration of US President Joe Biden, Ukraine’s main supporter, had previously claimed that Iran and Russia were discussing the possibility of setting up a drone assembly line in Russia.
Kirby said US intelligence officials now believe the plant is being set up in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, several hundred miles east of Moscow.
Indeed, Russia and Iran have strengthened their partnership in recent years, ramping up arms sales and exploring ways to outsmart US-led efforts to economically isolate the two countries.
But Russia denies using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine. Iran, meanwhile, has acknowledged sending drones to Russia, but says this was before Russia’s widely condemned invasion of Russia in February 2022.
Nevertheless, the US has accused Iran of complicity in the Russian invasion, which, according to the United Nations, killed thousands and displaced nearly 14 million people.
On Friday, Kirby said Iran has continued to send drones to Russia, shipping them across the Caspian Sea to the Russian port of Makhachkala. The Biden administration has previously imposed sanctions on Iranian defense companies involved in drone production.
“Iran’s well-documented proliferation of UAVs and conventional weapons to its proxies continues to undermine both regional security and global stability,” the US Treasury Department said in a March statement announcing further sanctions.
Last month, Ukraine approved a package of sanctions against Iran because of its close partnership with Russia. Ukraine has also claimed Iranian-made drones have been used in Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities killing and maiming civilians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Iranians if they wanted to be “accomplices to Russian terror”, a statement Tehran rejected as a “political show”.
But Russia has also accused Ukraine of using drones to carry out attacks within its borders. Earlier this week, Russia reported that a drone crashed into a residential building in the city of Voronezh, and it also blamed Ukraine for a series of drone strikes in Moscow in late May.