The US and the EU have imposed sanctions against Iranian organizations and individuals over drones

The United States of America and the European Union imposed sanctions on four Iranian organizations and one individual related to the development, production and distribution of unmanned aerial vehicles that Tehran provided to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine, the US State Department reported on June 3. radiosvoboda.org.

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"The Iranian regime provides Russia and its military proxies and partners with [Aircraft] to continue the conflict and destabilize the region," the statement said.

The sanctions target four entities linked to US-sanctioned company Rayan Roshd Afzar, as well as the Iranian head of the Iran Aircraft Industry Organization, a subsidiary of Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, which oversees UAV manufacturers, including Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company and Qods Aviation Industries.

The US State Department noted that these sanctions were announced simultaneously with the introduction by the European Union of sanctions against individuals and legal entities involved in the Iranian UAV industry.

Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia and Iran have grown closer, expanding economic and military cooperation.

Iran supplied Russia with its Shahed kamikaze drones, which Moscow often uses against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

Iran has denied providing drones to Russia for use against Ukraine and insists it has sold Moscow a "limited number" of drones before full-scale war. Russia has also rejected reports of using Iranian drones in war.

However, in July 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed in its monthly magazine "Army Collection" that its Geran-2 drone was in fact an Iranian-made Shahed-136 UAV.

On February 21 this year, Reuters reported that Iran had delivered hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia in four batches since January, and an unnamed Iranian military official said "more will be delivered in the coming weeks."

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