Seven Russians involved in what the foreign minister called an attempted assassination of former opposition leader Alexei Navalny will also face human rights sanctions, he said.
In addition to the human rights sanctions, Wong said Australia was imposing further targeted financial sanctions against three Iranian citizens and one Iranian business for supplying drones to Russia for use against Ukraine.
"The supply of drones to Russia is a testament to the role Iran has played in destabilizing global security," Wong said in a statement issued with Assistant Secretary of State Tim Watts.
Iran admits sending drones to Russia
Reporting from CNN, the Iranian government has for the first time admitted to sending drones to Moscow months before the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
"Some western countries accuse Iran of aiding the war in Ukraine by providing drones. We did provide a limited number of drones to Russia in the months before the start of the war in Ukraine," said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's foreign minister. The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian came after Russia used drones to hit Ukraine's energy infrastructure and civilian targets. "We provided a number of drones to Russia a few months before the Ukrainian war," Amirabdollahian told reporters after the meeting in Tehran.Iran has repeatedly denied sending weapons supplies to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. "In a telephone conversation with Ukraine's Foreign Minister last week, we agreed that if there is evidence (of Moscow's use of Iranian drones), he will hand it over to us," said Amir-Abdollahian in his statement. "If the Ukrainian side keeps its promise, we can discuss this matter in the next few days and we will consider their evidence," he added. In his statement, Amir-Abdollahian also once again denied that his country had sent missile supplies to Russia, he called the accusations "completely false".
This drone is produced by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Company (HESA). In addition to ground attacks, Shahed-136 is also capable of acting as a close-range support fleet in the air. It is also equipped with an Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR) system for spying. On the other hand, quoting Defense, Shahed-136 is actually easy to spot. Several videos showing this drone flying have been circulating on social media. Shade-136 has a triangular wing shape that makes it look like an iron. Surprisingly, this defense equipment does not have a camera. He was only guided by using satellite navigation. As a result, Shade-136 can only attack close range targets that have been monitored beforehand. In addition, the electronic components in this drone along with the engine from AliExpress fall into the civilian class category.
US Worried About Iran-Russia Cooperation
Kirby said hundreds of drones were provided by Iran to Russia to kill innocent Ukrainians and destroy civilian infrastructure. Iran is also said to be providing military support to Russia to an unprecedented level.
Iran does have a bad relationship with the US, and this is what makes the US even more worried about Iran's actions in cooperating with Russia which also has a bad relationship with the US.
