Conservative cleric and a newspaper editor openly critical of government’s stance on weapons it supplied to Moscow 

An internal rift over the supply of deadly drones to Russia for use in Ukraine has opened up in Iran with a prominent conservative cleric and newspaper editor saying Russia is the clear aggressor in the war and the supply should stop.

A former Iranian ambassador to Moscow has also hinted the foreign ministry may have been kept in the dark both by the Kremlin and the Iranian military.

Iran has denied for more than two months that it had sold the drones to Russia despite their use to target power stations and civilian infrastructure but at the weekend said it had supplied a small number of drones before the war started, an explanation that has been rejected by the US and Ukraine.

The row over the drones reflects a wider foreign policy debate in Tehran about the risks of developing close links with Moscow. It is also unusual, in that the criticism of Iran’s government is being led by a conservative cleric and a newspaper editor.

In remarks picked up by other Iranian newspapers, Masih Mohajeri, writing on the front page of the newspaper Jomhouri-e-Islami, highlighted three things the government should have done: advised the party that started the war, ie Russia, to observe international regulations that prohibit encroachment on the territory of other countries; told Russia at the outset of the war that it had no right to use the drones in Ukraine that Iran had provided; maintained stronger relations with the invaded country.

Addressing the Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, he added: “Why did you not announce to Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine that it has no right to use Iranian drones in the war in Ukraine? Furthermore, why have you not openly condemned Russia for starting the war and why have you not made a redoubled effort to mediate between the two sides to end this evil war?”

Abdollahian at the weekend ended weeks of prevarication in Iran over the drones by admitting – while stood next to the Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Vershinin, on the sidelines of an international conference – that it had provided a small number of drones before the war. He said if it was proven by Ukraine that its drones were being used in the war, Iran would not be indifferent.

Ukraine believes Moscow acquired 2,400 drones from Iran, including the distinctive triangle-shaped Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drone that detonates on impact.

Mohajeri described the foreign minister’s change of stance as a “good omen” in his newspaper article. “You still have time to change policy on the war in Ukraine,” he said. “You should not put all your eggs in the Russian basket. This method contradicts the policy of ‘neither east nor west’ which is the core of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”