U.S. taking broad effort to prevent Iranian drone supplies to Russia - media

The Joe Biden administration is making a concerted effort to deny Iran the ability to produce and supply combat drones for Russia to use in the war on Ukraine.

According to the New York Times, these efforts are similar to the long-term U.S. program to deprive Iran of access to nuclear technology, Ukrinform reports.

According to U.S. and foreign security officials, the program "aims to choke off Iran’s ability to manufacture the drones." In addition, it provides for making it harder for Russia to launch Iranian kamikaze drones. And, if all else fails, it seeks to provide the Ukrainians with the defenses necessary to shoot them down.

The scope of these efforts has become more apparent in recent weeks, the publication notes.

In particular, the US administration has tightened sanctions against Iran to deprive the country of Western-made components needed to manufacture the drones being sold to Russia. This came after an examination of the wreckage of the UAVs confirmed that they are equipped with U.S.-made technology.

In addition, the American military helps the Armed Forces of Ukraine target the sites where the drones are being prepared for launch. This is a difficult task, the newspaper notes, because the Russians are constantly changing their positions and using civilian facilities such as football fields and parking lots. At the same time, the Americans are rushing in new early warning technology to increase Ukraine's chances of destroying them.

However, all these approaches require efforts to overcome a range of challenges. In particular, it is not easy to cut off the supply of critical components to Iran, as the Iranian authorities resort to devious ways to obtain the necessary parts from dual-use technologies through shell international companies.

As Ukrinform reported, according to some reports, Russia seeks to exchange two squadrons of Su-24 and Su-35 aircraft for cheap Iranian-made Shahed drones, as it remains too risky to employ manned aviation in Ukrainian skies.