TEHRAN: Tehran on Monday rejected US allegations that Iranian military personnel are on the ground in Russian-occupied Crimea to help Moscow carry out drone attacks in Ukraine.
“We strongly reject this news,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told reporters, when asked about the White House claim.
On Thursday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that Iranian forces are “on the ground in Crimea” to assist Russia in its operations, adding that the personnel are trainers and tech support workers.
In response, Kanani on Monday said that Washington “aims to deviate the public opinion from the destructive role they have in the Ukraine war by standing on one side of the conflict and heavily exporting weapons and equipment to Ukraine.”
The United States, as well as Britain and the European Union, has already imposed sanctions on Iran as they, alongside Kyiv, accuse Iran of providing drones to Russia to be used in the Ukraine war.
Kirby said that “Tehran is now directly engaged on the ground, and through the provision of weapons that are impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.”
Iran has denied supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, and the Kremlin has accused the West of seeking to put “pressure” on Tehran with the allegations.
“The Islamic republic of Iran has repeatedly announced that it is not a party to the war in Ukraine,” Kanani added.
“We are not exporting weapons to any side of the conflict for war in Ukraine.”
Last month, Kyiv decided to significantly reduce its diplomatic relations with Tehran over alleged arms deliveries to Moscow.
Iran denies personnel in Crimea helping Russia
https://arab.news/yk7vc
Iran denies personnel in Crimea helping Russia
- The Kremlin accuses the West of seeking to put “pressure” on Tehran
US resumes food aid to Somalia
- The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port
NAIROBI: The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port.
In early January, Washington suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, saying Somali officials had “illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid meant for vulnerable Somalis.”
US officials then warned any future aid would depend on the Somali government taking accountability, a stance Mogadishu countered by saying the warehouse demolition was part of the port’s “expansion and repurposing works.”
On Wednesday, however, the Somali government said “all WFP commodities affected by port expansion have been returned.”
In a statement Somalia said it “takes full responsibility” and has “provided the World Food Program with a larger and more suitable warehouse within the Mogadishu port area.”
The US State Department said in a post on X that: “We will resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
“The Trump Administration maintains a firm zero tolerance policy for waste, theft, or diversion of US resources,” it said.
US president Donald Trump has slashed aid over the past year globally.
Somalis in the United States have also become a particular target for the administration in recent weeks, targeted in immigration raids.
They have also been accused of large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota, which has the largest Somali community in the country with around 80,000 members.
