News Desk - The Cradle
Kiev claims that Syria is involved in the production of Iranian drones bound for Ukraine
The secret document “appeals for long-range missiles to attack [drone] production sites in Russia, Iran, and Syria,” the outlet writes, adding that “Iran has already diversified its production through the use of a Syrian factory delivering to the Russian port of Novorossiysk.”
According to the document, a large number of the Iranian Shahed-136 drones used against Kiev’s forces in the Ukraine war are made up of components manufactured by western countries, including Poland, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US.
It goes on to say that the supply of commercial components is “poorly” regulated or “not controlled at all,” resulting in their increased use in Iran’s production of drones.
Bart Groothuis, a member of the European parliament’s defense and security subcommittee, said that EU intelligence agencies have not been able to successfully coordinate in dealing with the “misuse” of western-made drone components, adding that many of these agencies “aren’t even looking at sanctions.”
The document also claims that drone production for Moscow’s use against Ukraine is shifting towards Russia’s central Tartar region, adding that the Islamic Republic is continuing to supply the components.
Ukraine has been lobbying for “missile strikes on the production plants of these UAVs in Iran, Syria, as well as on a potential production site in the Russian federation,” the document reads.
“The above may be carried out by the Ukrainian defense forces if partners provide the necessary means of destruction.”
Last year, Iran’s Shahed-136 drones began surfacing on the Ukrainian battlefield.
In November 2022, Ukraine claimed that at least 75 percent of the internal components of Iranian drones used by Moscow in the war were made in the US, as well as in Japan and some European nations.
The components were identified by Ukraine's military intelligence, and their findings were verified by the Kiev-based Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Western-made components are allegedly used to guide, power, and steer the Iranian drones. NAKO claims this information was determined by studying several downed Shahed-136 suicide drones and a Mohajer-6 drone that was "hacked mid-flight and landed intact."
Tehran has repeatedly denied that it has sent drones to Russia for use against Ukrainian forces. However, it has admitted to making drone deliveries to Russia before the war began.
Last year, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran and Kiev had agreed to hold a meeting to discuss the drone issue diplomatically, but that the US and its allies sabotaged the meeting.
In May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky drafted and submitted a law to Ukraine's parliament calling for the imposition of sanctions against Iran for a period of 50 years.
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