Iran to Provide Russia with Combat Drones, US Reports 

The White House has disclosed Tehran’s plan to supply military assistance for training Russian forces. Iran is going to provide the Russian Federation with drone aircraft, including top-notch models of firing missiles, the Biden administration reported on July 11. This is a secret plan by Tehran to help Russia in its full-scale invasion to Ukraine. 

National security adviser Jake Sullivan reported at the White House briefing that this delivery of military assistance would enhance the Russian invasion and seek to destroy Western-supplied artillery and other weapons systems that have hindered Russian troops in undertaking military operations in recent weeks.

In addition, Sullivan reported that Iran would train the Russian military to use military equipment provided by them.

“Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline,” said Sullivan in the White House briefing room.

“It’s unclear whether Iran has delivered any of these UAVs to Russia already,” Sullivan added “but this is just one example of how Russia is looking to countries like Iran for additional capabilities.”

While Russia has its own wide-scale collection of drones, the supply of aircraft from Iran could expedite its invasion. Surveillance UAVs are crucial in targeting enemy forces, and weaponized drones can hover over the battlefield for a long time, launching missiles that can destroy tanks and other armored vehicles.

“Receiving the UAVs is a ‘significant statement’ about the limitations of Russian capabilities,” director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute Frederick Kagan reported.

“There are various indications that Russian-backed forces are running out of precision weapons, something that the UAVs from Iran would change,” Kagan added.

“It’s difficult to evaluate what the effect will be, but it will clearly give the Russians more capability to conduct air attacks, presumably deeper into Ukrainian territory than they have now,” said Kagan.

During Russia’s full-scale invasion which began on Feb. 24, Ukraine has utilized UAVs in its fight against huge numbers of Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers. A lot of this equipment has been provided by NATO countries, including Turkey.

Russia has been diplomatically isolated and is now under heavy economic sanctions, which has hindered its attempts to replace military equipment. Meanwhile, Ukraine is getting billions of dollars-worth of weapons, including state-of-the-art artillery systems provided by the U.S..

“From our perspective, we will continue to do our part to help sustain the effective defense of Ukraine,” Sullivan said, “and to help the Ukrainians show that the Russian effort to try to wipe Ukraine off the map cannot succeed.”