The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said the bill allows a response to the threat posed by Iran to the United States and its partners in the region.
She explained that it is in everyone’s interest to work to stop the purchase and production of Iranian drones, noting that the increasing aggressiveness of Iran and its allied terrorist militias in the Middle East has been observed.
Who introduced the bill?
According to the Iranian opposition channel “Iran International”, the bill was submitted by the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic Representative, Gregory Mix, Republican Michael McCaul, Democrat Ted Deutch and Republican Joe Wilson.
The Iranian channel stated that, “It stipulates that any cooperation with Iran in the field of drone activities is subject to US sanctions against its conventional weapons program, which is included in the Law on Combating Enemies of the United States known as “CATSA”, and includes preventing the supply, sale or transfer of it.”
And “CATSA” is a law adopted by Congress with the approval of Democrats and Republicans in 2017, the text that bears the name “Containment of America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act,” which imposes economic sanctions on every country or entity that concludes arms contracts with Russian companies.
It also aims to “prevent the Iranian regime and its proxy forces from gaining access to drones that could be used to attack the United States or its allies.”
The biggest source of terrorism
The channel quoted Democratic Representative Gregory Mix as saying: “The lethal drones in the hands of Iran are the largest source of terrorism in the world, and threaten the security of the United States and peace in the region.”
He pointed out that “the recent Iranian drone strikes on US forces, merchant ships and regional partners, along with the export of drone technology to conflict areas, poses a serious threat.”
He stressed that the law serves as a “strong message to the international community, that Washington will not tolerate government support for Iran’s drone program.”
Penalties for threatening navigation
At the end of last October, Washington announced new sanctions related to Iran targeting its drone program, which it said destabilizes the Middle East, as well as 4 people with links to the “Revolutionary Guard”.
And the US Treasury said, in a statement, that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps provided the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Ethiopia with drones that were used to attack US forces and international navigation in the Gulf region.
These sanctions affected Saeed Aghajani, who oversees the leadership of drones and is on another US blacklist, as well as Abdullah Mehrabi, another senior official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, whose assets in the United States have been frozen, and they will be denied access to the American financial system.
According to the statement, the Quds Force, which is responsible for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s foreign operations, “used deadly drones, and helped spread them among Iranian-backed groups,” including the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, and threaten to destabilize the entire region.
Insecurity in the area
Iranian analyst, Omid Shoukry, said that Iran’s huge missile arsenal is expanding, especially its drones and cruise missiles, which have destabilized the Middle East. Ballistic missile systems and drones are not only intended for deterrence, but also for combat.
Shoukry, senior foreign policy and energy security advisor at the Washington-based Center for Gulf States Analytics, added that Iran has complementary strategies to meet the needs of its allies, and to provide these drones and ballistic missiles to non-state actors, it uses “direct transportation, missile modernization existing capacity, and the transfer of production and supply capabilities through third parties.
He continued, “Iran’s support for proxy militias and sending weapons to them, such as drones, is a source of security concern for Arab countries, Israel and America, and therefore the United States is trying to prevent drone technology in Iran, because this would increase insecurity in the region.”
Yemen is a laboratory for its marches
Shoukry pointed out that Iran is using Yemen as a laboratory to test the ability of these drones, “In September 2019, the Aramco refinery facility was attacked by drones and cruise missiles, which caused a shock to the energy market, and caused a decrease in Saudi oil production and its ability to export by 50 percent. It uses this method to test its ballistic missiles in real conditions.”
He explained, “Saudi missile defense systems are primarily designed to intercept ballistic missiles, but cruise missiles and drones are much slower than ballistic missiles, and they can fly at exceptionally low altitudes, far from the radar field of view.”
He pointed out that America is afraid of Iran’s export of drones after the ban on conventional arms imposed by the United Nations on Iran in 2007 expired, as the 2015 nuclear agreement set October 2020 as a deadline for the end of the ban.
He stressed the need for the Vienna talks to include the Iranian drone program, which he said “will change the security equations in the Middle East.”
He continued, “The new US sanctions may have a direct impact on the Iranian drone industry, but in the event of a new agreement and the release of Iranian money in foreign banks, Iran can invest in the drones and provide them to proxy militias.”
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