JAKARTA - The United States says Iranian military instructors have been sent to Crimea, to assist Russian forces using Iranian-made drones to strike targets in Ukraine.
"We can confirm Russian military personnel based in Crimea, have piloted Iranian UAVs and used them to carry out kinetic attacks across Ukraine, including in attacks on Kyiv in recent days," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a daily briefing with reporters, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.
"We assess that Iranian military personnel are on the ground in Crimea and assist Russia in this operation," Price continued.
He said "we have credible information" but he gave no evidence.
Meanwhile, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday Washington would do everything it could to "exposit, obstruct and confront" Iran's ammunition supply to Russia, including more sanctions, while also considering air defense solutions to Ukraine.
Separately, EU members have approved new measures against Iran, the bloc said, while Britain has imposed sanctions on senior military figures and a company it says is involved in Iran's supply of drones to Moscow.
Russia and Iran have also been involved in an 11-year civil war in Syria, jointly supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"Iran and Russia, they can lie to the world, but they can't of course hide the facts, and the fact is: Tehran is now directly involved in the field," Kirby said, without providing details.
Russia captured Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has used the southern peninsula to train soldiers, reopening Soviet-era military bases as part of its neighboring invasion.
There was no immediate public reaction to the US allegations from Tehran, but it has denied that the drone was made in Iran. Moscow also denies using Iranian drones in Ukraine.
Russia's Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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