Western powers will sound the alarm at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday over Russia’s attacks in Ukraine using alleged Iranian drones, while the European Union prepares sanctions.

The United States, France and Britain have requested the discussion, which will take place behind closed doors at the Security Council, diplomats said.

Russia has veto power in the Security Council and would certainly nullify any resolution. But the United States and France have warned that Iran is violating a Security Council resolution by arming Russia in its war in Ukraine.

Ukraine has for weeks reported attacks by Russia using Iranian Shahed-136 drones — unmanned aerial vehicles whose warheads detonate on kamikaze landings — and has moved to sever ties with Tehran.

Iran and Russia have both denied using the drones, with Tehran saying it wants talks with Ukraine. But the European Union said on Wednesday it had confirmed Iran supplied the drones to Russia.

Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday it shot down more than 220 Iranian-made drones in just over a month, although drone fire on the capital Kyiv on Monday killed five.

Nabila Massrali, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said the bloc had “collected our own evidence” and would prepare “a clear, swift and decisive EU response”.

EU diplomats told AFP that work was underway on Wednesday to compile a list of Iranian individuals and entities linked to the drones who would be placed on the bloc’s black sanctions list.

The United States has accused the drones, officially known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), of violating 2015 UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which blessed a now-dying nuclear deal.

The resolution’s ban on Iran’s sale of conventional arms expired in 2020, despite attempts by Donald Trump’s then US administration.

However, the resolution continues to ban all transfers that could benefit nuclear-capable ballistic missiles until October 2023, unless authorized by the Security Council.

“Iran’s delivery of these specific types of unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia is in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and is a matter for the UN Security Council,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

The alleged arms transfers come as Iran faces mounting pressure over its crackdown on the biggest protests in years sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old arrested by the clerical state’s notorious “morality police.” .

The unrest has sparked new Western human rights sanctions and sidelined US President Joe Biden’s efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal from which Trump pulled the United States.

Western officials have highlighted the Iranian drones as evidence that Russia, historically one of the world’s largest arms exporters, has severely depleted its arsenal from battlefield casualties.

The United States has released information that says Iran’s drones have frequently failed and that Russia has also approached North Korea, despite China reportedly rejecting calls for arms supplies.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, on a visit to Washington, said Russia relies on drones, both because of low supplies and Ukraine’s success in the sky.

The Russians “understand that they do not have supremacy in the air at the moment because there is air defense from the Ukrainian side. They’ve already lost a lot of planes,” Pevkur told reporters.