US says Russia looking to buy more attack drones from Iran after depleting stockpile

The White House says Russia is looking to buy additional advanced attack drones from Iran for use in the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, after using up most of the 400 drones it has previously purchased from Tehran.

The US last year publicized satellite imagery and intelligence findings that it said indicate Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russia. For months, officials have publicly stated that the United States believes Iran is considering selling hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia, but Washington has not had evidence a deal was consummated.

“Iran also continues to provide Russia with one-way attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Since August, Iran has provided Russia with more than 400 UAVs primarily of the Shahed variety,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says.

“Russia has expended most of these UAVs, using them to target Ukrainian critical infrastructure inside Ukraine. By providing Russia with these UAVs, Iran has been directly enabling Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,” Kirby tells reporters.

The latest revelation is part of a persistent drip of intelligence findings from the administration to detail what US officials say is a deepening defense partnership between Russia and Iran.

It is part of broader administration effort to declassify and publicize intelligence findings of Moscow’s prosecution of its nearly 15-month old war in Ukraine, in hopes of further driving global isolation of Russia.