The Ukrainian side has decided to deprive Ambassador of Iran to Ukraine Manouchehr Moradi of accreditation and to reduce the embassy’s diplomatic staff, Spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko has said on Facebook.
The ministry made this decision in pursuance of the order of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to take urgent measures in response to the use of Iranian weapons by the Russian army in the territory of Ukraine.
In particular, on September 23, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Ukraine.
“It was stated to the Iranian side that the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia for its further use by the Russian troops against the Ukrainian civilian population and the defense forces directly contradicts the position of neutrality, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, publicly declared by the top leadership of Iran. The supply of weapons to Russia to wage war against Ukraine is an unfriendly act that strikes a serious blow to the relations between Ukraine and Iran,” Nikolenko said.
In response to such an unfriendly act, the Ukrainian side decided to deprive the Ambassador of Iran in Ukraine of accreditation, as well as significantly reduce the number of diplomatic personnel of the Iranian Embassy in Kyiv.
As reported, on September 23, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the Foreign Ministry to take urgent measures in response to the facts of using Iranian-made weapons by the Russian troops in the territory of Ukraine.
On September 22, the Ukrainian Air Force command reported that the anti-aircraft defense forces had shot down seven drones, four of which were Shahed-136 kamikaze drones made in Iran. They were downed in Mykolaiv region. The Russian forces also attacked Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions by Iranian drones.