Iran responds to Ukraine diplomatic demotion over Russia drones

Tehran, Iran – Iran says it will "respond appropriately" to Ukraine's revoking of its ambassador's accreditation over alleged drone sales to Russia while not directly denying it sold the aircraft. In a short statement on Saturday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said Ukraine's decision to downgrade diplomatic relations with Iran was "regrettable" and based on "unconfirmed reports" by foreign media. Kanani did not mention drones or explicitly deny that Tehran has supplied them to Moscow, but said Iran has exercised a "clear policy of active neutrality" when dealing with the war in Ukraine as it has stressed hostilities need to be resolved through dialogue. "The numerous meetings and calls of our country's foreign minister with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in recent months have been in line with helping to resolve the crisis," he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address on Friday the downgrade in diplomatic relations with Iran is because Ukrainian forces shot down a total of eight Iranian-made drones recently sold to Russia and used in the conflict.