TEHRAN – Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Poland’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest against “false and meddlesome” statements made by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski during his recent visit to London.
Sikorski spoke in Britain’s parliament on Tuesday, displaying a drone purportedly made by Iran, which he claimed was being used by Russia in the Ukraine conflict, and appealed for continued Western support for Kiev.
In response, Mahmoud Heydari, aide to Iran’s foreign minister and head of the Mediterranean and Eastern European Affairs Department, summoned Marcin Wilczek, head of Poland’s representative office in Tehran, on Thursday to lodge an official protest.
Mr. Haidari accused Mr. Sikorski of participating in what he called an “anti-Iran show” and rejected the minister’s accusations as “baseless and repetitive.” He also expressed the Iranian government’s regret that Polish officials had been involved in spreading “banal and politically motivated claims.”
Wilczek emphasized Warsaw’s interest in maintaining and expanding relations with Iran and promised to urgently convey Iran’s protests to the government.
Iran and Russia have consistently denied Western accusations that Iran provided drone and missile technology to Moscow for use in the Ukraine war.
In July 2022, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made his first anti-Iranian claim, saying the US government had “information” indicating that the Islamic Republic was preparing to “deliver up to hundreds of unmanned aircraft, including weapon-capable unmanned aircraft, to Russia on an expedited schedule” for use in the conflict.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian at the time dismissed Western officials’ comments as mere “hype.” While he acknowledged that Iran had sold a limited number of drones to Russia in the months before the Ukraine war began, he clarified that the claims about the missile shipments were completely false.
In response to accusations by Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Amir Abdullahian said he had agreed with the Ukrainian side that if Kiev had evidence proving Russia’s use of Iranian drones in the conflict, it should share it with Tehran for verification.
Iran’s late foreign minister added that talks between Iranian and Ukrainian political and defense delegations were scheduled to be held in the European country two weeks ago, but despite the Iranian delegation’s presence and preparations for talks, the Ukrainian side withdrew at the last minute.