Iran is emerging as a global leader in the production of cheap and lethal drones, according to US officials, who say Tehran is using the war in Ukraine<\/a> as a shop window for its technologies.<\/p>\n Analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency outlined how Iran<\/a> had turned from being a regional drone player in the Middle East to becoming Moscow\u2019s most significant military backer in the war.<\/p>\n Countering denials by Iran\u2019s foreign ministry that its drones had been used in deadly attacks in Ukraine, including against civilian energy infrastructure, the officials shared declassified intelligence demonstrating that Iranian drones used in attacks in the Middle East \u2013 including one claimed by Iran \u2013 were identical in all significant features to drones being used in Ukraine.<\/p>\n One official described Tehran as having emerged as a global leader in the production of cheap and very effective drones.<\/p>\n Although the supply of Iranian drones to Moscow for its war in Ukraine has long been treated as fact in much reporting, as well as in multiple US briefings that have sought to describe the increasingly close military cooperation between Iran and Russia<\/a>, the officials emphasised that the point of their briefing was to persuade sceptics in a global audience of the depth of the intelligence the US had amassed on Iran\u2019s drone shipments.<\/p>\n Iran has supplied three models of drone to Russia: Shahed 131 and 136 single-use kamikaze drones, used by Moscow as a cheaper alternative to cruise missiles, and the Mohajer-6 multi-role drone, which can be used for intelligence gathering and to carry a missile payload.<\/p>\n The Iranian state TV released pictures of a US MQ-1C drone, that has recently been downed by the IRGC and reverse engineered. The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle Attack drone is a medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft that is an upgraded MQ-1 Predator as an extended-range multi-purpose UAV. [PHOTOS] Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>Using in-flight footage and debris of suicide and multi-role drones used in Ukraine, the officials said they sought to disprove Iran\u2019s denials that its drones had been used, as the US seeks wider support for sanctions against Iran over its drone supplies.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Iran has said it has sold drones to Russia, it has said explicitly that they have not been used in this conflict and that if they were, they would not \u2018remain indifferent\u2019,\u201d said one official, unveiling images of debris from a Shahed 131 killer drone used in an attack in Iraq in September 2022, for which Iran took responsibility, and debris from an attack on Kyiv in October of the same year.<\/p>\n Save for Russian markings on the debris on the drone that struck Kyiv, the images show identical components, including the rotary engine, wooden propeller, relay board, and even the hex screws used to mount the prop.<\/p>\n The US analysts also compared debris from a Shahed 136 recovered from Ukraine with publicly available images of the engine of a drone displayed at the Iranian national aerospace exhibition in 2014, showing an identical ring gear, starter, exhaust and heat sink.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have seen is very recognisable debris from two very different geographical regions that has come from the same source,\u201d the officials said, describing it as \u201ccompelling evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n They added that Iran appeared to be \u201ccommitted to resupplying\u201d Russia with drones.<\/p>\n More widely, the officials sketched out how Iran\u2019s drone use had rapidly developed since 2014, from where its drones were being used in far more limited attacks against targets such as Saudi Aramco and shipping \u2013 including the attack on the Mercer Street tanker<\/a> in 2021, which killed the vessel\u2019s Romanian captain and a British bodyguard \u2013 to their widespread use in a major conventional war.<\/p>\n The analysts said they believed Tehran was quickly accumulating expertise for its drone development programme from their use in Ukraine and was probably learning valuable lessons to improve its unmanned aircraft.<\/p>\n Describing the reason for declassifying the intelligence on the Iranian drones, a second official explained that it was specifically aimed at countering those who remained sceptical about Iran\u2019s supply of drones to Russia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main point is that Iran\u2019s foreign ministry is denying that they are being used. What the US and the UK want to do is provide irrefutable evidence to a global audience where there may be more scepticism,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n While the US and UK have issued sanctions over Iran\u2019s supply of drones to Russia, they are seeking wider support for these in the international community.<\/p>\n Underlining the mounting concerns, recent reporting from Iran suggests that Tehran believes there is a substantial market for its drones, reportedly including China.<\/p>\n Al-Monitor<\/a>, a news website, recently reported quotes made by an Iranian military intelligence official describing the prospects of drone sales, suggesting dozens of countries were interested in them. The official is said to have made the comments at Imam Khomeini International University in the city of Qazvin.<\/p>\n \u201cOur power has grown to levels where China is waiting in line to buy 15,000 of our drones,\u201d said the official, who was introduced by the report as the director of the intelligence ministry\u2019s thinktank for political research.<\/p>\n Mohajer-6 drone. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n Over the weekend, the Guardian revealed<\/a> how Iran has used boats and a state-owned airline to smuggle new types of advanced long-range armed drones to Russia for use in its war on Ukraine.<\/p>\n At least 18 drones were delivered to Vladimir Putin\u2019s navy after Russian officers and technicians made a special visit to Tehran in November, where they were shown a full range of Iran\u2019s technologies, sources in Iran revealed. On that occasion, the 10-man Russian delegation selected six Mohajer-6 drones.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/MQ-1c.jpg\")
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