Insikt Group
The physical threat of Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, has been evident in conflict zones over Israel, the Red Sea, and Ukraine. Iran’s burgeoning drone industry also poses significant challenges to global businesses and Western governments. Insikt Group identifies five primary risks: compliance violations due to illicit procurement networks, reputational harm from the use of Western components in drones, technology transfer through reverse engineering, global proliferation of drone technology, and heightened cybersecurity threats. Despite international sanctions, Iran’s drone production and export have expanded, involving partnerships with countries like Russia.
A Global Security Threat
Iranian UAVs have proliferated as a global security threat over the past year. In April 2024, Tehran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel involving the launch of 170 drones, and by the start of 2024, Russia had reportedly launched over 3,700 Iranian-made Shahed drones to devastating effect on the front lines in Ukraine. Iran and its proxies have used these unmanned aircraft across the Middle East, including targeting United States military bases in the region, striking critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and attacking Western naval ships and international commercial vessels from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. The broad use of Iranian drones across regional conflicts almost certainly reflects the strategic prioritization — at the highest levels of the Iranian government — of developing, producing, and proliferating these systems.
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