The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has introduced a bill to prevent Iran and its militias from obtaining lethal drones. The committee stated in a statement that Iran's increasing reliance on drones and exporting them poses a threat to regional stability. The Foreign Relations Committee emphasized the need for Washington to address Iran's regional terrorism and sanction it for its destabilizing behavior. Republican Congressman Jim Risch mentioned that there have previously been warnings about the threat of drone attacks carried out by Iran against Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The Iranian opposition had previously confirmed that drones have become the primary tool in the strikes conducted by the Quds Force, responsible for the operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps abroad. The Iranian National Resistance Council stated that the drones come from eight factories in Iran and are made using primarily smuggled materials, then sent to countries like Syria and Iraq for assembly and use. The Iranian opposition stated it obtained this information from sources within Iran and included images it claimed were from production facilities, according to the AFP news agency.
In this context, a report from the Wall Street Journal pointed to Iran exploiting loopholes in the global oversight system, allowing it to transfer drones to militias executing its agenda in the Middle East. The report revealed the danger of Tehran using ready-made components to build armed drones for attacks targeting the United States and its allies in the region.
U.S. and European defense officials, according to the newspaper, warned of the growing capabilities of Tehran in manufacturing and deploying drones and the implications for security in the Middle East. Military officials also stated that Iran has been able to supply its allied militias in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Gaza with drone technology, exploiting gaps in the global export control system to deliver it to the militias without passing through Iran.
It is noted that Iran-aligned armed militias in Iraq have seen a shift in their operational strategy by adopting drones. General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command in the Middle East, indicated last June that Iran-aligned armed groups, aiming to expel American forces from Iraq, have begun using drones.
