According to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for military relations with other nations, More than a million Iranian ammunition was transferred on Monday confiscated to Ukraine.
“The government obtained these ammunition on July 20, 2023 through seizure operations by the Ministry of Justice against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran,” the organization said in a statement.
In July, the US Department of Justice announced that it wanted to confiscate it “more than 9,000 rifles, 284 machine guns, about 194 rocket launchers, more than 70 antitank missiles and more than 700,000 ammunition” seized by the US Navy in Iran.
This ammunition “was originally seized by the Naval Forces of the United States Central Command while on board the ship MARWAN 1 on December 9, 2022,” from where it was to be handed over to the Houthi movement in Yemen, “in a “clear violation” of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216”.
The episode was not unprecedented. Last year, the U.S. Navy seized thousands of Iranian weapons from ships bound for Yemen. In midJanuary, the United States helped France seize 3,000 weapons and 23 missiles destined for Yemen. For several months, the Biden administration had been looking for a way to legally ship the confiscated weapons that had been stored at the facilities. to Ukraine from CENTCOM in the Middle East.
“Ultimately, Ukraine needs arms supplies to support its war effort. And nevertheless [o envio de armas iranianas] While it is not the solution to all of Ukraine’s military needs, it can provide critical support,” Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, told CNN International.
The expert recalled that since the beginning of the war, the Russian military has used Iranian drones to “attack and murder Ukrainian civilians,” which is why this is the reason There is now “poetic justice in Ukraine, which uses confiscated Iranian weapons to defend its people against Russian invasion and abuse.”. Air defense systems between the USA and Ukraine, results coming soon
Meanwhile, Ukraine said on Wednesday that it expects first “results” from joint production of air defense systems with the US by the end of this year.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries, said this in an interview with a Ukrainian media outlet The two countries began working on joint production after a Ukrainian delegation visited Washington last month.
“During our visit to the United States, we received not only a further guarantee of further financial and military support, but also a willingness to work on the joint production of air defense systems,” Kamyshin said.
The person in charge pointed this out The first results of the joint production will be visible at the end of 2023without specifying whether the first assembled system will be ready by then.
with agencies