Library Documents on Iran's Drone Program
October 29, 2021
The United States will use every appropriate tool to counter Iran’s malign influence and activities, including its proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The United States has designated six Iranian targets – two entities and four individuals – using Executive Orders that address terrorism and WMD proliferation. These targets are linked...
September 17, 2021
On September 9, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command announced that it was forming Task Force 59 (TF 59) to test new unmanned air, surface, and underwater technologies under the command of robotics expert Capt. Michael Brasseur. Part of a wider “netted fleet” experiment, the initiative aims to rapidly integrate advanced autonomous systems with...
August 30, 2021
Attempting to pass off a child’s astronaut costume as an innovation of Iran’s space agency was bizarre but familiar. Shared online by Minister of Information and Communications Technology Azari Jahromi in February 2020, the fit-for-Halloween suit exemplified the Iranian government’s penchant for fabricating technical achievements, whether through...
August 17, 2021
Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region, there have been reports on the possible use of drones by the ENDF, or the Ethiopian National Defence Force. Opponents of the government claimed that the Ethiopian military operated armed drones from an airbase in neighbouring Eritrea, a claim which Bellingcat addressed in a previous ...
August 11, 2021
How should the United States respond to Iran’s July 31 drone attack on the Mercer Street, a Japanese-owned, Liberian-flagged, Israeli-managed oil products tanker in international waters off the coast of Oman, killing the Romanian captain and a British crewmember?
August 9, 2021
On August 4, personnel from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boarded the Emirati bitumen tanker Asphalt Princess in international waters near Fujairah and tried to divert it into Iranian waters. The crew managed to foil their plan by disabling the ship, and the boarding party left when a U.S. Navy destroyer approached. The incident...
August 6, 2021
U.S. Central Command Statement on the Investigation into the Attack on the Motor Tanker Mercer StreetTAMPA, Fla. – Following the July 30, explosive unmanned aerial vehicle attack on the Motor Tanker (M/T) Mercer Street while transiting international waters off the coast of Oman, an expert explosive investigative team from the USS Ronald Reagan...
August 5, 2021
U.S. officials recently announced that they are considering sanctions against a supply chain that enables Iran’s unmanned aerial systems, or UAS, program. But sanctions are unlikely to be effective, and in fact, are almost beside the point. What is needed is a multilateral effort around ending Iran’s support of militias acting against...
August 4, 2021
I am writing to you with reference to the letter dated 3 August 2021 from the Representatives of Liberia, Romania and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/2021/701).
August 1, 2021
UK assessments concluded that it is highly likely that Iran attacked the merchant vessel MV Mercer Street in international waters off Oman using unmanned aerial vehicles.Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:The UK condemns the unlawful and callous attack committed on a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman, which killed a British and a Romanian...