Iran 'Become More Dangerous To Its Neighbors,' White House Warns

The White House on Wednesday warned against growing military ties between Russia and Iran saying that it's 'certainly not good for the region,' as National Security Council's John Kirby put it, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"An Iran that can avail itself of Russian military capabilities, and therefore become more lethal and more dangerous to its neighbors, obviously that’s not good for the Middle East," Kirby said when responding to TURAN's questions during a briefing at the Washington Foreign Press Center.

"We have taken action through sanctions to hold both Iran and Russia accountable for this burgeoning defense relationship. We’ll continue to do that," he said.

Kirby's comments came ahead of today's planned meeting between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Russia's Vladimir Putin in Moscow, which follows the latter's Middle East trip.

Putin, Kirby said, "obviously acts only out of his own self-interest here. And part of that self-interest is making sure that he has additional ways to kill innocent Ukrainians, and some of the way that he does that is through the use of Iranian drones"

"... I don’t know what [Putin] is going to talk about [with Raisi], but it’s certainly not implausible that it would include methods in which this defense relationship between their two countries can be improved, which is not only not good for the Ukrainian people but it’s certainly not good for the region," Kirby added.

Since mid-2022, Iran has reportedly supplied hundreds of kamikaze drones to Russia, which have been extensively used to target civilian infrastructure and cities.

Kirby also pointed to Iran’s backing of its proxy groups in the region, especially Yemen’s Houthis who have time and again attacked US and Israeli interests in the region.

“We know that the Houthis are supported by Iran, not just politically and philosophically but, of course, with weapon systems,” he said.

Kirby's comments came as Biden held a virtual meeting with G7 Leaders Wednesday morning, during which they discussed the situation in the Middle East, along with Ukraine, and condemns Houthi attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and noted that "we have reason to believe Iran enabled these attacks," according to the White House readout of the meeting.