Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani > Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Israel’s president Isaac Herzog will present evidence to US officials during meetings in Washington this week which proves that Iranian drones are being used by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Herzog arrived in Washington on Tuesday for a short visit that will include a meeting with President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
Before departing, Herzog said that the most pressing topic on the agenda was “the Iranian threat, which is destabilising not only the Middle East but the entire world”.
Herzog’s office said that the president would share photo evidence showing Russia utilising advanced Iranian drones in its attacks on Ukraine.
This follows weeks of accusations that Russia has been using Iranian drones to attack civilians and power plants in Ukraine, claims that Moscow and Tehran have denied.
However, Israeli security officials have employed visual analysis to determine that fragments of drones used in Ukraine are identical to those developed in Iran.
The photos reportedly show the Iranian Shahed-136 drone model being launched during a drill in Iran in December 2021, and the same aircraft downed in Ukraine.
The evidence follows claims by the White House that Iran has deployed military experts in Russian-occupied Crimea to support the launching of drone attacks.