Ukraine Asks West to Bomb Drone Factories in Iran and Syria

Kyiv made the request in a document submitted to the G7 alleging Western components are in drones Russia is using in Ukraine

Ukraine asked its Western backers to bomb drone factories in Iran, Syria, and in Russia, The Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing a document Kyiv submitted to the G7 in August.

In the document, Kyiv alleged that Iranian drones Russia has used to bombard Ukraine contain Western components. Ukraine claims that Iran had diversified its drone production using a factory in Syria and that the production would eventually shift to Russia.

The document suggests that Ukraine’s Western backers could launch “missile strikes on the production plants of these UAVs in Iran, Syria, as well as on a potential production site in the Russian Federation.”

The document says that Ukraine could launch the strikes if provided with the weapons capable of doing so. “The above may be carried out by the Ukrainian defense forces if partners provide the necessary means of destruction,” it says.

For their part, Iran has denied that it has provided Russia with drones since the invasion of Ukraine was launched, a claim Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reaffirmed last week at the UN General Assembly.

The Ukrainian document claims Iran is trying to “disassociate itself from providing Russia with weapons” and “cannot cope with Russian demand and the intensity of use in Ukraine.”

There’s no indication the US or any of Ukraine’s other Western backers would bomb Iran or Syria for Ukraine. Israel frequently launches airstrikes in Syria and covert attacks inside Iran, but that’s been happening long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Back in January, a drone attack targeted an Iranian military facility in the city of Isfahan, an attack US officials speaking to the media said Israel was behind. In comments to The Wall Street Journal, US officials noted the attack came as the US and Israel were discussing ways to counter Iran’s military capabilities and its growing relationship with Russia.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.