Defense cooperation between Russia and Iran is not directed against any other country, and the West should look in the mirror before hurling accusations against the Islamic Republic, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

�Military and defense ties between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation exist in the framework of the common interests of the two countries and are not directed against any third state. The military and defense ties between Iran and Russia precede the start of the military crisis in Ukraine,� Nasser Kan'ani said in an interview with Sputnik Persian on Friday.

Kan'ani dismissed claims made by Western officials and media that Iran is supporting Russia militarily in Ukraine as baseless �propaganda,� saying anyone making such accusations should take a look at the billions in military support their own countries are sending.

�Countries that export tens of billions worth of weapons to one side in the conflict are not helping to end the conflict. Their actions do not support a political solution,� the spokesman noted, pointing to Tehran�s efforts to keep up contacts with both Russia and Ukraine in the interest of finding a political solution to the crisis.

US and NATO officials and media have spent months alleging that Iran has been providing Russia with hundreds of drones for its military operation in Ukraine. Russian and Iranian officials have vocally dismissed these allegations, accusing Western countries of using them to justify their own illegal arms supplies to Kyiv.

Russia and Iran have �great, shared and complementary economic capacities,� and their ever-expanding cooperation �is based on the common interests of the two nations in the economic, commercial, industrial, energy and transportation fields, as well as banking and finance,� Kan'ani said.

 

 

By MEHR�