Iran is helping Russia build a manufacturing plant for the unmanned aerial vehicles Tehran has provided Moscow, and it could be fully operational by early next year, according to the Biden administration.
U.S. officials have warned for nearly a year about the growing defense partnership between Tehran and Moscow, which includes Tehran having provided Russia with hundreds of drones that it has used to target Ukrainian civilian infrastructure with disregard for civilian lives, in exchange for unprecedented defense cooperation on missiles, electronics, and air defense.
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"We are also concerned that Russia is working with Iran to produce Iranian UAVs from inside Russia. We have information that Russia is receiving materials from Iran needed to build a UAV manufacturing plant inside Russia," National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told the Washington Examiner on Friday. "This plant could be fully operational early next year."
Defense and NSC officials have repeatedly spoken out about the growing partnership, occasionally declassifying relevant information, such as with Kirby initially warning in December of Iran and Russia working on "the establishment of a joint production line for lethal drones in Russia" for use in Ukraine.
Kirby also detailed the process of how the drones get from Tehran to Russia. First, they go from Tehran to Amirabad, Iran, before then boarding a ship to cross the Caspian Sea. The drones are then moved from Makhachkala, Russia, to either Seshcha, Russia, which is near the Belarusian border, or Primorsko-Akhtarsk, which is near Crimea.
"This is a full-scale defense partnership that is harmful to Ukraine, to Iran’s neighbors, and to the international community," he said. "We are continuing to use all the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt these activities, including by sharing this with the public — and we are prepared to do more."
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency confirmed in February that Russia had been using Iran's Shahed 136 one-way attack UAV, the Shahed 131 one-way attack UAV, and the Mohajer-6 multirole UAV in Ukraine.
An Iranian drone that Russia launched in Ukraine last fall contained parts made by more than a dozen U.S. and Western companies, prompting Western leaders to look for ways to prevent unsuspecting Western defense companies from unknowingly assisting Iran and Russia. A National Security Council spokeswoman told the Washington Examiner in February it is "assessing further steps we can take in terms of export controls to restrict Iran's access to technologies used in drones," while the group of federal agencies announced a new advisory on Friday for businesses and other governments to ensure they don't unwittingly assist Russia in targeting Ukraine.
The departments of Justice, Commerce, State, and Treasury issued the joint guidance, noting that the "industry should be aware of its compliance obligations due to the threat posed by the extensive overseas network of procurement agents, front companies, suppliers, and intermediaries Iran uses to obtain UAV components, all of which employ a variety of methods to evade export controls and sanctions. Industry should exercise extra vigilance due to the ubiquitous nature of many of the items, as Iran utilizes commercial-grade components in its weapons."
Iran "relies on foreign procurement to obtain items it cannot produce domestically," hence the emphasis on stopping this supply. "Recovered Iranian-origin UAVs used by Russian forces in Ukraine reveal that Iran's UAV program has used many components produced by third-country suppliers."
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It specifically references Iran's desire for electronics, such as transceiver modules, processors and controllers, and amplifiers, guidance, navigation, and control equipment, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and inertial measurement units, among others, and components, including aircraft spark-ignition and compression-ignition internal combustion piston engines and other relevant spare parts.
The Tehran-Moscow relationship exceeds just the drone, U.S. officials warn. Iran has also finalized a deal to buy Su-35 fighter jets from Russia and is looking for additional weapons and equipment, including attack helicopters, radars, and YAK-130 trainer aircraft. In total, Iran is looking for billions of dollars worth of military aid.