Biden Admin Launches Massive Campaign To Stop The Iranian Drone Program That’s Battering Ukraine

The Daily Caller

Biden Admin Launches Massive Campaign To Stop The Iranian Drone Program That’s Battering Ukraine

Micaela Burrow on December 28, 2022

Since American-made parts have been found in downed Iranian drones on the Ukrainian battlefield, the U.S. has escalated efforts to cripple Iran’s illicit drone industry, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The three-pronged initiative focuses on disrupting Iran’s drone manufacturing capabilities, throttling Russia’s ability to deploy the imported aerial vehicles (UAVs) and arming Ukrainian forces with the weaponry necessary to shoot them down, the NYT reported, citing Western intelligence, military and security officials. While the U.S. has for years sought to suppress Iran’s weapons industry and clamp down on illegal technology transfers, the apparent scale of Iran’s drone production has prompted an escalation in U.S. and Western counter-proliferation fights.

Researchers analyzing remains of the Iranian drones on the battlefield identified the kinds of advanced microelectronics the strict American sanctions regime intends to block Iran from acquiring. Russia has used different varieties of Iranian drones, including “kamikaze” weapons that detonate upon reaching their target, to destroy swaths of Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure.


The U.S. is funneling new technologies designed to provide early warning in advance of oncoming drone swarms to Ukraine, the NYT reported. U.S. forces are also assisting the Ukrainian army with identifying Russian UAV launch sites, hoping to disable drones before they take off, but that task has proven difficult as Russians shift around to soccer fields, parking lots and other civilian locations within Ukraine after moving in from Crimea.


“We are looking at ways to target Iranian UAV production through sanctions, export controls, and talking to private companies whose parts have been used in the production,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told the NYT. “We are assessing further steps we can take in terms of export controls to restrict Iran’s access to technologies used in drones.”

Earlier in December, the U.S. initiated a far-reaching probe after researchers found U.S.-made components in some of the hundreds of Iranian-made drones Russia is using to attack Ukraine, CNN reported, citing multiple officials familiar with the effort. The White House Security Council convened representatives from the Defense, State, Justice, Commerce and Treasury departments for an “all hands on deck” effort to expose Iranian sanctions evasion, CNN reported, citing an official.

Qods Aviation, which is owned by Iran’s military, manufactures the Mohajer-6 UAV, one of two main varieties Ukrainian and Western officials have identified as being used by Russia in Ukraine. The company has featured on sanctions lists for years, but continues to broaden its drone production, according to the NYT.

The Biden administration has responded with tightening sanctions, in September and again in November, against companies suspected of supporting Iran’s UAV industry, the NYT reported.

The widening campaign comes as U.S. officials warn of a deepening relationship between Tehran and Moscow, one that many fear could soon manifest in a supply of Iranian missiles to Russian forces, according to the NYT.

Iran has already once “bailed Putin out” by agreeing to supply drones, one senior military official told the NYT.

The Pentagon and the NSC did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Biden Admin Launches Massive Campaign To Stop The Iranian Drone Program That’s Battering Ukraine

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