It is the rupture between Ukraine and Iran. Relations had already deteriorated after the destruction, in January 2020, of Ukraine International Airways flight 752, but the rapprochement between Iran and Russia thanks to the invasion of Ukraine has definitively buried them. Ukrainian deputies adopted, on Monday 29 May, a draft sanctions against the Islamic Republic accused of supplying arms to Moscow for its war.
“This resolution synchronizes Ukrainian sanctions with the actions of the entire civilized world on the path to the complete isolation of Iran”, wrote the Ukrainian Parliament on its website. This sanctions package includes a ban on military trade with Iran, a halt to the transit through Ukraine of such goods and the “suspension of economic and financial obligations in favor of Iranian residents”.
The text must still be signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky to be promulgated, a formality since the latter is the one who introduced the resolution to Parliament, at the suggestion of his Security and Defense Council.
Thanks to the war, Iran has moved closer to Russia and is accused by kyiv and the West of supplying weapons used by Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, in particular the Shahed kamikaze drones.
If kyiv initially tried to appease the Islamic Republic, the failure of this approach now seems to be confirmed. “Iran today is a terrorist regime that poses a threat to Europe and the Middle East”lambasted on Sunday on Twitter the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Mykhailo Podoliak. “Tehran has become a key ally of Moscow in this war, deliberately supplying it with weapons for attacks on civilian towns”, denounced Mr. Podoliak. His message followed the largest drone attack of the conflict on the Ukrainian capital, carried out with several dozen Iranian drones.
Zelensky’s message to Iran
President Voldymyr Zelensky addressed the Iranian people on Wednesday in a video subtitled in Persian, in which he denounced the fact that when an Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone “hits a dormitory with students, people die, a fire breaks out, rescuers arrive, then, a few minutes later, a second Shahed hits to kill rescuers”. “Your Shaheds who terrorize Ukraine every night mean that the Iranian people are pushed more and more into the dark side of history”said Mr. Zelensky in his video, relayed on social networks in Iran.
Tehran replied on Saturday, accusing him of criticizing Iran in order to obtain more aid and weapons from the West: ” The repetition of false allegations by the President of Ukraine against the Iranian government and people » intended to “attract as much arms and financial aid as possible from Western countries”said the spokesman for Iranian diplomacy, Nasser Kanani.
Tehran admitted having supplied drones to Moscow, but assured that these deliveries had taken place before the offensive in Ukraine. “The Islamic Republic has always declared that it is opposed to the war in Ukraine”repeated Saturday Mr. Kanani.