Tashkent Denies Ukrainian Reports Of Involvement In Assembling Iranian Drones

The Uzbek Foreign Ministry on Thursday denied the statements made by Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon (listed as a foreign agent in Russia) about alleged production of Iranian drones in the country at Russia's behest and urged Kiev to take measures against dissemination of fake media reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2022) The Uzbek Foreign Ministry on Thursday denied the statements made by Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon (listed as a foreign agent in Russia) about alleged production of Iranian drones in the country at Russia's behest and urged Kiev to take measures against dissemination of fake media reports.

Earlier in the day, Gordon said on air of his YouTube show that Iranian drones were being allegedly assembled for the Russian army in Iran, Iraq and Uzbekistan. Uzbek lawmaker Alisher Qodirov urged the Uzbek foreign and defense ministries to make the Ukrainian journalist apologize for the slander.

"We affirm that Uzbekistan does not cooperate with Iran in the military-technical area and does not assemble Iranian military equipment on its territory," the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moreover, Tashkent has received no official inquiries from Ukraine or other countries on the alleged assembly of Iranian drones in Uzbekistan, the statement read.

"In this regard, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry asks the official authorities of Ukraine to take appropriate measures to prevent the dissemination by the Ukrainian media of such unfounded accusations against Uzbekistan or other unreliable information that could damage bilateral relations," the statement said.

The Uzbek State Committee for the Defense Industry also said that Tashkent had never produced weapons or military equipment in cooperation with Iran and "is not producing them now."

Washington has been insistent that Iran was supplying its combat drones to Russia, which used them to strike Ukrainian infrastructure. No concrete evidence has been presented yet, with both Moscow and Tehran denying the allegations as false.

Nevertheless, on October 21, France, the United Kingdom and Germany asked the United Nations to investigate the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 endorsing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program. The resolution, among other things, prohibits Tehran from selling certain types of goods, including drones, without prior approval from the UN.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow and Tehran had given "exhaustive explanations" to the UN Security Council on the alleged use of Iranian drones in Ukraine. Russia and Iran also maintain that the possible UN investigation into the case is "illegal" as the UN has no mandate for it.