The State Department said Thursday it would “vigorously” enforce all US sanctions on Russian and Iranian arms trade, doubling down on previous comments by US officials that Tehran was training Russian officials on drones.
The Biden administration first revealed last month that it had information about Russia and Iran discussing the potential sale of Iranian drones for Russia to use in Ukraine.
“During the last several weeks, Russian officials conducted training in Iran as part of the agreement for UAV transfers from Iran to Russia,” a US official told Al Arabiya English on Wednesday.
Asked about these reports, State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel said the US assessed the Russian officials “recently received a showcase of Iranian attack capable UAVs.”
Noting that the US remains “incredibly concerned” about Iran’s use and proliferation of UAVs, which he said had been used to attack US forces and allies in the region, Patel said the US would use all available tools, “including, but not limited to, sanctions” to prevent, deter and dismantle the procurement network that supplies UAV-related material and technology to Iran.
