TEHRAN- The Iranian foreign minister on Thursday asked the West to press Kiev to hold “formal dialogue” rather than continuing to level “unsubstantiated charges” that Tehran is providing drones to Russia in its war against Ukraine.

“We have previously addressed the core cause of the present crisis in Ukraine as well as Iran's opposition to war,” Hossein Amir Abdollahian told Josep Borrell, the head of the EU foreign policy, over the phone.

Iran has been charged with supplying Russia with military drones for use in the conflict with Ukraine by Western nations.

The accusations have been unequivocally denied by Tehran.

“Instead of making baseless accusations against Iran over and over again, the West should encourage Ukraine to present substantiated proof at an official meeting of the political and military delegations of the two countries, replace baseless and repeated accusations with formal negotiations and get the point that Iran has always supported peace, not war,” Iran’s top diplomat insisted.

The minister also stated that Iran is prepared to assist in bringing about peace during his scheduled trip to Moscow later this month.

Last year, representatives from Iran and Ukraine held technical talks about the accusations. But the Ukrainian side was unable to offer any proof that Moscow had used Iranian drones in the conflict.

Iran has admitted that it had transferred several drones to Russia, although the shipment was made before the conflict started in February 2022.

Notwithstanding rumors of the suspected deployment of Iranian drones in the conflict, Borrell said he is appreciative of Iran’s attempts to promote peace in the region.

They also discussed the most recent state of Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Amir Abdollahian emphasized that the negotiations are “on the right track,” around two weeks after IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s visit to Tehran, which resulted in an agreement to promote improved collaboration and advance the resolution of outstanding safeguards issues.

Borrell also praised the collaboration between the IAEA and Iran as a development.

The most recent status of negotiations to relieve anti-Iran sanctions and revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was also discussed between the two parties.

Iran FM holds talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart

On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Sri Lanka and Iran also spoke over the phone about bilateral ties and topics of significance to both countries.

Amir Abdollahian stated that his nation is keen to strengthen collaboration with Sri Lanka and emphasized the need to implement the agreements the two sides have previously achieved to develop relations.