Iranian Lawmaker Boasts About Moscow Buying Drones From Tehran

In an interview with Iran International on Monday, Alexander Rodnyansky an economist at Cambridge University commented on the possible provisioning of Iranian military drones.

“We have to view it in that perspective that Iran and Russia are allies in this conflict. In Ukraine, we obviously have no illusions about this. So, we are obviously very aware of what's going on, and we're going to be very careful about our relationship with Iran and what we hear from Iranian authorities when it comes to Ukraine,” he told Iran International.

United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned earlier this month that Iran was planning to sell drones to Russia to be deployed in Ukraine. US officials followed up by more warnings about a possible deal that could cause more civilian deaths.

Rodnyansky argued that he sees Russia increasingly resembling the authoritarian regime in Iran in recent years. Saying that repression and other dictatorial traits have been adopted by Moscow, he said, “Now it has really become a full autocracy, you could almost say a dictatorship…we should be very cognizant of the fact that Russia under its current leadership is trying to build the Iranian type of model as a state.”

He went on to say, “It's this repressive type of regime that uses deception, lies, manipulation and terror constantly to stay in power and pursue its agenda.”

He argued that close ties between Moscow and Tehran and the possibility of a drone deal should be viewed from this perspective, although Iranian officials have been trying to deny reports of arms transfers.

“We know what type of regime it is, and we know that just as in Russia, you can't really trust any single word that comes out of the (Iranian) officials' mouths,” Rodnyansky said, underlining that Ukraine will believe Iranian assurances only when it sees concrete proof.

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February, Iran tried to exhibit neutrality, calling for an end to hostilities, but blaming the West for triggering the war by expanding NATO. But since then, Tehran has adopted a more aggressive tone toward the West as it has refused to accept a nuclear deal offered in the Vienna talks to revive the 2015 agreement known as the JCPOA.

On July 24, two Iranian hardliner newspapers called for standing with Russia in the Ukraine war, after the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei threw his support behind Putin last week when the Russian leader visited Tehran. Khamenei called the attack on Ukraine a “praiseworthy initiative.” One newspaper close to the Revolutionary Guard called for “pre-emptive” war against NATO, arguing that if the West wins in Ukraine, Iran will be the next target.

Asked about this statement, Rodnyansky said it is nothing more than what Russia has been trying to advance even since before it commenced its invasion.

“And now we hear Iran is just repeating that exact same narrative. And that tells us that these regimes are very much in line, in sync, and very much allied when it comes to this conflict and the current war in Ukraine, and the conflict with the West,” he argued.

Addressing an IRGC conference in Tehran on Sunday, Major General Hossein Salami said that “the whole world has gathered at our borders to pour evil into our country,” but Iran’s warriors respond to their attacks in their own territory multiple times. 

He added that the enemies censor the news of Iran’s responses and “currently we do not have a policy to publicize all the developments.”

Salami said the IRGC plans to manufacture and obtain the most advanced arms since "weapons play an effective role in wars."

Earlier on Sunday, Nour News, a website affiliated with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, claimed Iran arrested an “Israeli-linked” sabotage which had planned to destroy a sensitive facility in central Iran. “These individuals (Mossad-linked agents) had identified a sensitive center in Esfahan, planted strong explosives there, and only a few hours were left until the explosion” when they were arrested.

Since mid-2020 a series of high-profile mysterious attacks have hit Iran’s nuclear and military installations around the country, widely believed to have been Israeli sabotage operations.

In May, several IRGC officials were killed or died in suspicious circumstances, prompting Tehran to blame Israel -- which has never officially taken credit for these operations – and a a major reshuffling of IRGC intelligence and counter-intelligence leadership in the following month. 

A few days after female political prisoners were transferred from Qarchak to Evin, the political prisoners of the Fashafouyeh prisonwere also transferred to Evin on Sunday.

The transfers from Qarchak, also known as Rey or Shahr-e Rey Women Prison on July 20, and Fashafouyeh, aka the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, to Evin both were carried out abruptly and without any explanation by the authorities. 

Normally political prisoners demand to be transferred to Evin because that is where the Islamic Republic holds most of its political prisoners and Qarchak and Fashafouyeh are usually for people convicted of violent felonies and common criminals.

However, former political prisoner and civil rights activist Arash Sadeghi wrote on social media that the transfers were done with the aim of imposing restrictions and having more control on political prisoners rather than separating them based on crimes.

He added that for example there is limitations in access to telephones in Evin's women’s ward and the Ward Six of Evin – where the political prisoners of Fashafouyeh are held – is close to Ward 209 that belongs to the Intelligence Ministry, making it easier to put pressure and restrictions on the prisoners of conscience.

Moreover, considering the disastrous situations of the Qarchak and Fashafouyeh detention centers, which were being leaked out by the political prisoners, the Islamic Republic preferred to transfer them to Evin instead of closing or changing the conditions of these two prisons, he said, noting that in this way no more news from these two prisons will go out. 

In a tweet on Sunday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that “a nuclear Iran is not a threat only to Israel, but to the entire region and the world.” 

Echoing remarks by the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, the ministry said, "Today what we have is a nuclear program that has grown enormously....” and a country that does not seek nuclear weapons would not enrich uranium to 60 percent.

On July 22, Grossi told Spain's El Pais newspaper that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is "galloping ahead" and the IAEA has very limited visibility on what is happening. 

In 2019, Iran began breaching restrictions on its nuclear program following the 2018's pullout of the United States from the 2015 deal, the JCPOA, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The process accelerated after President Joe Biden’s administration signaled it was ready to return to the JCPOA.

“If there is an agreement, it is going to be very difficult for me to reconstruct the puzzle of this whole period of forced blindness,” Grossi said. “It is not impossible, but it is going to require a very complex task and perhaps some specific agreements.”

Iran would like to see a nuclear agreement taking shape soon, but it will not act with emotion and haste, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Naser Kanaani said Monday.

In an interview with Al-Rai newspaper published on Sunday, he called for “a change of behavior” from the Islamic Republic, noting that Amman “does not want tensions in the region.”

“Jordan, like the rest of Arab countries, seeks good relations with Iran, with mutual respect, good neighborliness, respect for the sovereignty of other states, and non-interference in their affairs,” King Abdullah said.

Referring to regular anti-smuggling operations on the border with Syria -- dominated by Iran-backed fighters – he said that Jordan, like other Arab nations, was being targeted by drugs and arms smugglers in transit between Europe and Persian Gulf countries. “Jordan is coordinating with its brothers (Arab countries) to confront this and protect its borders.”

Back in May, the Jordanian army said Iran-backed forces in the Syrian army and militias loyal to Tehran are trying to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of drugs across the Jordanian border to Persian Gulf markets.

"The Jordanian armed forces are facing a war along the borders, a drugs war and led by organizations supported by foreign parties. These Iranian militias are the most dangerous because they target Jordan's national security," army spokesperson Colonel Mustafa Hiari said. 

Jordan is concerned about Iran and its proxies filling a vacuum left by Russians in southern Syria, warning that this could lead to issues along the borders.