• The US says that Russia and Iran are now working together on defence in a full-fledged way.
• John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, says that Russia is giving a level of military support that has never been seen before.
• He also says that the US has heard that the two countries might work together to make drones that can kill people.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, says that Russia is giving a level of military support that has never been seen before.

He also says that the US has heard that the two countries might work together to make drones that can kill people.

It comes after Ukraine accused Iran of giving Russia “kamikaze” drones that were used in deadly attacks on October 17. Iran at first denied the accusation.

Later, the Middle Eastern country admitted that “many months” before the war, it sent Moscow a small number of drones.

In response, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that this was not true and that Iran was using a lot more drones.

In the early hours of Saturday, the Ukrainian air force said it shot down 10 of the 15 drones that were used to attack southern areas.

In his evening speech, Mr. Zelensky said that the strikes left more than 1.5 million people in Odessa without electricity and that it could take days to get the power back on.

Australia said earlier that it would put sanctions on three Iranian people and one Iranian business for giving Russia drones to use against Ukraine. Mr. Kirby said on Friday that Iran and Russia working together to make drones would be bad for Ukraine, Iran’s neighbours, and the rest of the world.

“Russia wants to work with Iran on things like making weapons and training people to use them,” he said. “The US is worried that Russia wants to give Iran advanced military components like helicopters and air defence systems.”

“Iran is now Russia’s most important military ally,” he said. “Russia has been using Iranian drones to attack energy infrastructure, cutting off power, heat, and other important services for millions of Ukrainians. People are dying in Ukraine because of what Iran is doing right now.” In response to what Mr. Kirby said, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that Iran had become one of Russia’s biggest military backers and that their relationship was a threat to global security.

He said that because of the “dirty deals” between the two countries, Iran has sent hundreds of drones to Russia.

“In exchange, Russia is giving the Iranian regime military and technical support, which will make it a bigger threat to our allies in the Middle East and to world security,” he said.

He said that the UK agreed with the US that Iran’s help for the Russian military would grow in the coming months as Russia tried to get more weapons, including hundreds of ballistic missiles. Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, said in a statement on Saturday: “Iran’s sale of drones to Russia shows that it plays a part in making the world less safe. This list shows that people who give Russia material help will have to deal with the consequences.”

She also said that 19 other people and two organisations, such as Iran’s Morality Police, would be punished for the harsh way they treated anti-government protesters after Mahsa Amini, 22, died in custody earlier this year.

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