Iran said on Saturday it regretted a decision by Ukraine to reduce its diplomatic presence in Kyiv over alleged arms deliveries to Russia.
"Iran expresses its regrets over the decision of the Ukrainian government concerning diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran," foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency.
"This decision is driven by baseless information provided by foreign media propaganda" against Tehran, he added.
Ukraine announced on Friday it would downgrade diplomatic ties with Iran and strip the ambassador of his accreditation over what it called Tehran's "unfriendly" decision to supply Russian forces with drones.
The move came hours after Ukraine said it had downed four Iranian-made "kamikaze" unmanned aerial vehicles.
Military authorities in southern Ukraine said in a statement they had shot down the Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles over the sea near the port of Odesa.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman insisted on Saturday his country followed a "clear policy of active neutrality" and added that Iran will respond in "an appropriate manner" to the Ukrainian government's move.
In July, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US had intelligence indicating that Russia is looking to Iran for UAVs.
He said that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several UAVs for use in Ukraine, and train Russian forces to use these UAVs.
A month later, it was reported that Iran had begun training Russians to use its drones, though it was also noted that Russia is experiencing “numerous failures” and technical glitches with the drones it purchased from Iran.
In early September, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against four Iranian companies producing and selling drones to Russia.
Tehran has denied it is supplying Russia with drones.