‘Spotlight,’ a leading news analysis program of the English-language service of Iran’s state television opens with a discussion of the latest remarks by their Foreign Minister on what exactly Iran has supplied to Russia by way of drones and..when. It proceeds to examine other highly topical questions with respect to EU-US relations in support of Kiev and with respect to Russian military capabilities.
I use this opportunity to add one further consideration which was not brought up in the on air discussion: all restrictions on sale of military hardware by Iran in export markets, including drones and missiles, which may have figured in UN resolutions of the past expired more than two years ago, so that the country is entirely free to supply such arms to Russia if it so desired. Therefore, all of the current insinuations by the United States and NATO that there is some illicit trading between Russia and Iran is empty rhetoric.
Translation into German (Andreas Mylaeus):
‘Spotlight,’ ein führendes Nachrichten-Analyse Programm des englischsprachigen staatlichen iranischen Fernsehens macht auf mit einer Diskussion zu den kürzlichen Bemerkungen ihres Außenministers dazu, was der Iran Russland genau im Hinblick auf Drohnen zur Verfügung gestellt hat und wann. Dann fährt es damit fort andere wichtige zentrale Fragen bezüglich des Verhältnisses der EU und der USA hinsichtlich der Unterstützung für Kiew und des russischen militärischen Potentials zu untersuchen.
Gilbert Doctorow is a Brussels-based political analyst. His latest book is Does Russia Have a Future? Reprinted with permission from his blog.
© Gilbert Doctorow, 2022
From what I heard the Russians gave the contract to build them to the Kalashnikov Concern. I’ve heard it from a few on-line sources, I read one report that came up just before the war started, that the license to manufacture them had gone to Kalishnikov. They used a number of them in combat first to see which ones they intended to put into mass production, Iran worked closely on it with them and of course that does not mean they aren’t also buying even more from Iran. So, it could easily be both. Russia could be both manufacturing them and buying as many as they can.
I don’t think there is any doubt that currently the Russians are manufacturing them as fast as they can. They have a number of other drones that they use as well, but this is the only armed drone that has really shown a lot of promise for long range attacks. Spotting drones and a couple of Armed Loitering types have been their primary (drone) success stories up until now. They are upgrading their GRAD’s to Tornado systems as fast as they can as well, with integrated drone tech that works more like it’s Western counterparts.
Based on the way Iran has been and is being treated by the west, I wouldn’t blame them if they are shipping drones to Russia.
This planet is being run by seriously damaged apes.
A friend calls humans “trouble monkeys,” I like that term. Unfortunately, whatever you call them, we have psychopaths running the planet, and they’re about to blow it up and irradiate it with nuclear war if we don’t stop them.
Everyone needs to take at least some responsibility for this. How we live and what we demand are the reason that we have psychopathic leaders. Humans need to reverse course in almost every major way, starting with a great lowering of human population, and getting back to living a lot more simply & naturally. These are very long-term goals, so the sooner we get started, the better.
Probably so, but so what? We deliver weapons to the Ukrainian the Iranians deliver weapons to the Russians. Seems legit.
No industrial weapons are legit. A pox on all of them, all the arms manufacturers, and all the militaries across the globe.