September 23 (Reuters) – Ukraine announced on Friday that it would sever diplomatic ties with Iran and strip its ambassador of credentials following what Kyiv calls “unfriendly” Thran’s decision to supply drones to the armed forces Russians.
Earlier on Friday, Ukraine said it had shot down four Iranian-made drones, prompting Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky to regret that Thran is undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty and its citizens.
Ukraine and the United States have accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia, which Thran denies.
“Supplying Russia with weapons to wage war on Ukraine is an unfriendly act that deals a serious blow to relations between Ukraine and Iran,” the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said in a statement on his website.
“In response to such an unfriendly act, the Ukrainian side has decided to deprive the Iranian ambassador of his accreditation and to significantly reduce the number of diplomatic staff at the Iranian embassy in Kyiv,” the minister continued.
The message from Kyiv was delivered to the acting ambassador, as Iran’s permanent ambassador is not currently in Ukraine. (Report David Ljunggren, French version Matthieu Protard)