Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has said that Chechen units will not take part in potential military action on Iran’s side in its conflict with Israel and the US. The statement on his Telegram channel came following rumours about a possible deployment of Chechen forces to Iran.
At the end of March, the Iranian state news agency PressTV claimed, citing unnamed sources, that Chechen military units had declared their readiness to deploy to Iran to support the Iranian armed forces in the event of a possible US ground operation.
The commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces, Lieutenant General Apti Alaudinov, also stated shortly after the war began that he was ready to transfer all weapons at his disposal to Iran and to go into battle on Tehran’s side, should such a decision be taken by Russia’s leadership.
Elizaveta Chukharova
According to Kadyrov, however, the possibility of sending Chechen units to the Middle East could only be considered under different circumstances, such as if Iran conducted military operations exclusively against the US and Israel, and not against other countries in the Persian Gulf.
‘Without any doubt, I personally support Iran, with one “but” — I do not support Iran’s strikes on peaceful sites and civilian infrastructure in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf’, Kadyrov wrote on Telegram.
He added that he maintains ‘brotherly relations’ with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, and that it was ‘deeply unpleasant’ for him to observe civilians in these countries suffering as a result of the conflict.
Independent media has previously reported that Kadyrov’s family owns property in the UAE and may hold other assets there, although there is no official confirmation of this information.
This is the second time since the Israeli–US attack on Iran began that Kadyrov has publicly criticised Iran.
In March, he commented on events following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. At that time, Kadyrov condemned his killing but added that Iran’s subsequent strikes, which affected infrastructure in third-party countries and resulted in civilian casualties, ‘cannot be justified’.
