US intelligence officials have warned that Russia is building a dronemanufacturing facility in country with Irans help. The facility is expected to provide Russia with a new drone stockpile that is orders of magnitude larger than what it has been able to procure from Iran to date. When the facility is completed likely by early next year the new drones could have a significant impact on the conflict the analysts warned. Iran has been using the Caspian Sea to move drones bullets and mortar shells to Russia often using vessels that are dark or have turned off their tracking data to disguise their movements. The US obtained and analyzed several of the drones downed in Ukraine and officials say there is undeniable evidence that the drones are Iranian despite repeated denials from Tehran that it is providing the equipment to Russia for use in Ukraine. Tehran for its part has flatly denied providing the drones for Russia during the war. The Islamic Republic of Iran has not and will not provide any weapon to be used in the war in Ukraine Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein AmirAbdollahian said in October. In November he acknowledged that Iran had supplied drones to Russia but said they had been delivered to Russia months before the war began. A phrase written on one component roughly translated to for grandfather in Russian a reference to Russias fight against the Nazis in World War II. The DIA also showcased an Iranianmade Shahed drone recovered in Iraq which is smaller and lighter than the Shahed and has not previously been shown to the public the analysts said. A senior DIA official said on Friday that analysts first saw signs of a growing RussianIranian military partnership in April. The White House revealed in July that Iran was preparing to providing Russia with the drones. The Obama administration launched an expansive task force last year to investigate how US and western components including Americanmade microelectronics were ending up in the Iranianmade drones being used in Russia. The analysts said they were allowing journalists to see the drones in person because they want to give policy makers and the public undeniable evidence. The U.S. also wants to raise awareness so that western companies begin to better monitor their supply chains for signs that their components are being illegally diverted to help manufacture the drones to help make them more widely available to the Russian military. The drone debris found in Ukraine was nearly identical to Iranianmade components found in Iraq the only apparent difference being that the components in Ukraine featured cyrillic lettering. The debris was recovered in Ukraine in during the briefing on Friday comparing them sidebyside with Iranianmade. drones found in. Iraq last year. One of the drone remnants had only its wings and engine partially intact. But judging by its shape and size it appeared to be a Shahed the same model as an Iranian made drone found in Baghdad. The analysts removed components from one and easily slid them onto the other showing that they are virtually indistinguishable in their design. There is a possibility that Iran could begin providing theshahed to Russia particularly because they are compact and easier to ship.
Iran helping Russia build drone stockpile that is expected to be ‘orders of magnitude larger’
