Have you heard about Iran’s actions to help Russia?

Well…who hasn’t?!

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues it has been found that Iran has sent drones and drone trainers to help the Russian military. Many people in the Western side of the world believe that Russia is in the wrong for waging war with Ukraine and its peoples.  According to an article in the New York Times, Russia had bought drones from Iran and also had been sending troops to learn how to operate said drones. Eventually Iran had started to send trainers to Russia to teach the military. The Iranian soldiers are believed to be away from the frontlines and only deployed for the purpose of training the Russians. It is unknown whether the soldiers are piloting the drones or only teaching, the amount of soldiers sent is also unclear.

There are many reasons behind why they have sent the drones and soldiers, ranging from personal gain to advertisement and even a warning of sorts. An article on Politico by Alexander Ward, Matt Burg, and Lawrence Ukenye states that experts believe that Russia could pass on knowhow on the avoidance of sanctions on to Iran. It is a possibility that they could be helping as some sort of reward for helping continue the Syrian President’s time in power. Another possibility is that it is in order to showcase their power as a way to say there would be difficulty should a conflict arise.

Dalia Dassa Kaye from the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations told Politico, “Demonstrating the lethal capabilities of its drones and missiles could be a key driver in Iran’s current calculations, as a way to bolster deterrence and prepare for military escalation.” It also could be that Iran is using this opportunity as a sort of advertisement and or test for their drones and their effectiveness. It is possible that allowing other military forces to use another’s weaponry is a good way to test its effectiveness in a real combat setting.

Iran denies any helping of the Russian military as stated by Hossein Amirabdollahain the Iranian Foreign Minister in the Politico article, “Tehran’s policy regarding the Ukraine war is to respect the country’s territorial integrity.”

Many people in the U.S. agree with the ideals attached to this statement, outside forces should not be trying to help Russia’s already powerful military. According to an article in Breaking Defense this statement hasn’t done much to convince officials in America and Europe. John Kirby a National Security Council spokesperson, has stated “The Supreme Leader should answer why he has Iran directly engaged on the ground and through the provision of weapons that enable Russia to kill civilians and damage civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. It’s just another example of Iran’s desire to export violence, and both Iran and Russia need to be held accountable for it.” in an article on the Politico website.

Many believe that what Russia is doing is wrong and intolerable and any who wish to help achieve Russia’s goals should face punishment. They also could be in it to hurt the west’s military prestige. The Americans have proven their military strength time and time again throughout the years, if Iran were to be able to hurt the prestige of the west then it would show that the Americans shouldn’t be feared as much as they are now.

Now that you’ve been informed, what do you think? Is Iran stepping out of line? Should they face punishment?