Iran rejects U.S. claim of helping Russia build drone plant

TEHRAN, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday rejected the U.S. claim that Iran is sending materials to Russia to help Moscow build a drone manufacturing plant.

Nasser Kanaani made the remarks at a weekly press conference, in response to the White House's allegation that Tehran "provided hundreds of armed drones to Russia last month for Moscow's war in Ukraine," according to a statement posted on the website of Iran's Foreign Ministry.

Iran rejects such claims with "political motivations," said Kanaani, adding that military and defense cooperation between Iran and Russia had started before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In a statement on Friday, John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said: "As of May, Russia received hundreds of one-way attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), as well as UAV production-related equipment, from Iran."

He said Russia had used Iranian drones in recent weeks to strike Kiev, noting that Moscow has been "offering Iran unprecedented defense cooperation, including on missiles, electronics, and air defense in return for Iran's supplying kamikaze drones to Russia."