Iran’s Drone Industry and Its Military Cooperation with Russia in Ukraine Book Chapter

Eric, L. (2023). Iran’s Drone Industry and Its Military Cooperation with Russia in Ukraine . 5 111-140. 10.1007/978-3-031-40451-1_6

cited authors

  • Eric, L

authors

abstract

  • Based on an extensive analysis of open-source data and materials, this chapter examines the emergence and evolution of Iran’s drone industry and its transfer of the technology inside and outside of the Middle East. The chapter argues that, before the U.N. arms embargo against Iran expired in October 2020, the Islamic Republic used drones for domestic counterinsurgency and exported them to predominantly quasi-or non-state partners and proxies in the region. Before 2020, Iran witnessed how the drones of its regional rivals, namely Turkey and the UAE, with first-mover advantage turned the tide of nearby conflicts in Syria, Libya, and Nagorno-Karabakh, where the Islamic Republic was also involved on the same or opposing side. Consequently, and since 2021, Iran has been more active and assertive in the global military drone market, as evidenced by Tehran’s export of combat drones to the Ethiopian government during the Tigray War (2020–2022), alongside Ankara and Abu Dhabi. More recently, the Islamic Republic’s activeness and assertiveness in this market have culminated with its transfer of the technology to Russia to surveil and strike military and civilian targets in Ukraine. Like Turkey, Iran has on its own and through its rivals, learned lessons of drone usage across conflicts rather than simply within them and has leveraged the technology to advance extra-regional foreign policy ambitions.

publication date

  • January 1, 2023

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 111

end page

  • 140

volume

  • 5