Russian Officials Trained in Iran as Part of Drone Deal, Washington Says

A handout picture provided by the Iranian army official website shows a drone launched from a naval vessel in the Indian Ocean - File/Reuters
A handout picture provided by the Iranian army official website shows a drone launched from a naval vessel in the Indian Ocean - File/Reuters
TT
20

Russian Officials Trained in Iran as Part of Drone Deal, Washington Says

A handout picture provided by the Iranian army official website shows a drone launched from a naval vessel in the Indian Ocean - File/Reuters
A handout picture provided by the Iranian army official website shows a drone launched from a naval vessel in the Indian Ocean - File/Reuters

Russian officials trained in Iran in recent weeks as part of an agreement on the transfer of drones between the two countries, the US State Department said on Thursday.

US officials said last month that Washington had information that Iran was preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones, including some that are weapons capable, and that Russian officials had visited Iran to view attack-capable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Reuters reported.

Iran's foreign minister at the time denied the claim, including in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart. The claim raised concerns that Iran, which has supplied drones to its allies in the Middle East, was now giving support to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters during a phone briefing on Thursday that Russian officials had conducted training on drones in Iran "in the last several weeks."

The United States would "vigorously enforce" its sanctions on both Russian and Iranian weapons trading, he said.

The transfers of drones between the two countries was "potentially sanctionable under numerous authorities," Patel said.

"We remain incredibly concerned about Iran's use and proliferation of UAVs. They have been used to attack US forces, our partners in the region, and international shipping entities," Patel said.



Palestinian Protest Leader Detained by US Misses Son’s Birth 

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP)
Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP)
TT
20

Palestinian Protest Leader Detained by US Misses Son’s Birth 

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP)
Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP)

Detained pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil missed the birth of his son on Monday after US authorities refused a temporary release, his wife said.

A graduate student at New York's Columbia University who was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza, Khalil was arrested by immigration authorities on March 8.

He was ordered deported even though he was a permanent US resident through his American citizen wife, Noor Abdalla.

Abdalla said that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied a request to release Khalil temporarily for the birth of their child.

"This was a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud and our son suffer," she said in a statement.

"My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud. ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud's support for Palestinian freedom," she said.

She gave birth in New York. Khalil was transferred to the southern state of Louisiana in an apparent bid to find a judge sympathetic to President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Trump's advisors have accused pro-Palestinian protesters of promoting anti-Semitism and terrorism, charges the activists deny.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked a law approved during the 1950s Red Scare that allows the United States to remove foreigners seen as adverse to US foreign policy.

Rubio argues that US constitutional protections of free speech do not apply to foreigners and that he alone can make decisions without judicial review.

Hundreds of students have seen their visas revoked, with some saying they were targeted for everything from writing opinion articles to minor arrest records.

Immigration authorities last week arrested another Columbia University student active in the protests, Mohsen Mahdawi, as he attended an interview seeking to become a US citizen.