Russian despot Vladimir Putin has had a longstanding cooperation with Iran’s top leaders, including supplying them with weapons and purchasing weaponry from the Middle East country
Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” is likely helping Iran in its war against the US and Israel, the UK defence secretary has said.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey said Iranian forces that targeted a base in Iraq where some British troops were “have hallmarks” of how Russian have carried out operations against Ukraine. He said this could be seen in how Iran used its drones.
Tehran sold “Shahed” attack drones to Russia in the opening months of Moscow’s war full-scale war in Ukraine. Moscow, which has been a long-time ally of Tehran, developed their own version of the drone and have reportedly assisted Iran as it faces relentless bombardment from the US and Israel.
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Healey told reporters during a visit to the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters: “No one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics, potentially some of their capabilities as well.” The defence secretary said it was likely the link between Russia and Iran “not least because the one world leader benefitting from the sky high oil prices at the moment is Putin.”
Oil prices have spiked across the world after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes. US President Donald Trump has not been able to resolve the issue, despite having a large naval presence off the coast of Iran.
Healey added Putin “is clearly likely to welcome this war more than anyone else,” reports Sky News. Lieutenant General Nick Perry, the chief of joint operations who oversees UK military operations across the globe, said there was “definitely” a link between Russia and Iran.
He told Healey: “We have definitely seen the Iranian tactics of the use of their drones learnt from Russians – flying them much lower so they are more effective.” The Lieutenant added: “There is no doubt [the Iranian] tactics have changed.”
Drones were said to be causing the most damage across the Middle East on the Iranian side. It also includes an Iranian-linked drone that struck a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus.
The RAF Akrotiri base was hit by a one-way attack drone at 12.03am local time on March 2, in incident Secretary Healey described as an example of the “dangerous and indiscriminate attacks” carried out by Iran and its proxies. The drone was identified as a Shahed drone, which cannot carry a large warhead and while it is capable of killing an individual, it would be unlikely to cause damage to large buildings.
Healey said parts of the device are now being investigated to see if they include Russian parts. He added: “We will update you on the findings from that.” He confirmed that while there had been reports of US casualties. there had been none that were said to be British.