The issue of Iran's military drone supply to Russia, which has been the subject of discussion in Ukraine and the European countries, has reached an unexpected conclusion. Iran, which has almost no technology of its own in the military field, came to the fore this time with the drones it provided to its "ally" Russia.
What is interesting is that there is not a single Russian-made part in the structure of Iran's "Muhajir-6" UAVs. It came out that, Rotax 912 engines sold to Iran by the Italian company "Luciano Sorlini Spa" are installed in the mechanism of UAVs.
As for the Rotax 912 engine, it is widely used in the ultralight aircraft market. The manufacturing plant is owned by Canada's BRP group, which has denied ever allowing the engine to be exported to Russia or Iran.
It is interesting that the Italian company "Luciano Sorlini Spa" has a license to sell Rotax engines to Iran for a long time. However, regarding the company's statement, it said that it has not sold engines to Iran and Russia since 2019.
It should be noted that after the war, the Ukrainian government announced that it would file charges against other countries, including Iran in the international for supplying weapons to Russia . If this is the case, will Canada and Italy be on the dock in front of this issue?
In his statement to Ednews, Ukrainian political expert Alexander Marezhko said that this is not a very important issue for Ukraine.
"What parts Iran uses in the production of drones is a secondary issue. The main thing is that Iran not only produced these drones, but also gave them to the terrorist state, that is, Russia. In my opinion, Italy has nothing to do with it. Parts produced in different countries could be used in the production of drones. How they reach Iran despite the sanctions is a separate issue that requires special investigation. Maybe the parts came to Iran through third countries and private companies."
The expert said that the Italian government is not a relevant party in this matter, based on the statement made by the Ukrainian government regarding the prosecution of the Ukrainian government for supporting terrorism before the international court after the war:
"It has nothing to do with the Italian government or the European Union. On the contrary, Ukraine highly appreciates the support of the Italian government in the fight against Russian aggression".
"Italy is on the side of Ukraine and democracy," he added.
Vadim Tryukhan, a Ukrainian expert on military issues, confirmed the same opinion and added that it is not the states, but the business organizations operating within the country that can be held responsible.
"I think it is not right to accuse the states here. After all, we are not talking about supply through the state. Most likely, these were commercial contracts. It seems to me that if Ukraine reveals the existence of such a violation of the law on behalf of the countries, the governments of our partner countries such as Italy and Canada will conduct appropriate investigations and bring the guilty officials to justice."
In response to the question of whether Italian companies should pay compensation to Ukraine for selling the aforementioned drones or whether the European Union should impose sanctions against that company, the expert noted that this next step depends on the EU's judicial system.
"First, it will be necessary to conduct an investigation, and then decide how to compensate for the damage caused by these drones to Ukraine. If the involvement and, most importantly, the intention of the Italian company in question is proven, it will probably be necessary to take action through Italy's own and possibly the EU's judicial system. However, it is not worth talking about any specific step of Ukraine at the moment."
Regarding the possibility of damage to diplomatic relations: "It is completely impossible. Ukraine and Italy have never had such warm and mutually beneficial relations in history. The first leader with whom newly elected Prime Minister Georgia Meloni spoke on the phone was Ukrainian President Zelensky. Italy supplies Ukraine with a fairly large amount of weapons and ammunition. Italy has received about 125 thousand refugees from Ukraine who fled from the Russian army. Therefore, no one would argue with such an important partner because of the actions of a private company. At the same time, I believe that relevant consultations will be conducted through diplomatic channels and general conclusions will be drawn."
Vadim Tryukhan clarified the idea of the delivery of drones from Italy to Iran: "Iran supplies drones to Russia through intergovernmental intermediaries. Therefore, Ukraine as a whole will bring those involved in this case to greater responsibility."
By Elnur Enveroglu