"Won't Hesitate To Use Sanctions": US Over Iran Drones After Kyiv Strikes

"Anyone doing business with Iran that could have any link to ballistic missile developments or the flow of arms from Iran to Russia should be very careful and do their due diligence," State Department...

The United States warned Monday that it will take action against companies and countries that work with Iran's drone program after Russia used the imports in deadly kamikaze strikes in Kyiv.

“Anyone dealing with Iran that could have anything to do with drones, ballistic missile developments, or the flow of weapons from Iran to Russia should be extremely careful and do their due diligence — the United States will not hesitate to use sanctions or take action against the perpetrators,” he said. State Department spokesman Vidant Patel told reporters.

"Russia's deepening of its alliance with Iran is something that the entire world - especially those in the region and frankly around the world - should see as a profound threat," he said.

Ukrainian officials said the strikes killed four people in Kyiv - including a couple who were expecting a baby -

And cut off electricity to hundreds of towns and villages as the country prepares for winter.

Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken said the drone strikes showed the need to provide "everything possible" for Ukraine as its forces gain ground against Russian invaders before winter.

Blinken told reporters at Stanford University in California that the Russians "are attacking critical infrastructure like power plants, hospitals, things that people need in their daily lives that are not military targets."

It is a sign of increasing desperation on the part of Russia,

But it is also a sign of the levels they are going to descend that we have seen time and time again when it comes to targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure,” said Mr. Blinken.

In Washington, Patel said the United States also believes Iran's shipment of drones — known officially as unmanned aerial vehicles —

He violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which blessed the now moribund 2015 nuclear deal.

"We believe that these drones transferred from Iran to Russia and used by Russia in Ukraine are among the weapons that will remain prohibited under 2231," he said.

The resolution's ban on Iranian exports of conventional arms expired in October 2020 despite efforts at the United Nations by the administration of then-President Donald Trump, who withdrew from the nuclear deal.

But the decision kept restrictions until October 2023 on exports related to ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear weapons.

Patel, citing previously released US intelligence, said that some Iranian UAVs sold to Russia are malfunctioning.

He said the transfer shows "tremendous pressure" on Russia, which according to US figures has lost 6,000 pieces of equipment since the invasion of Ukraine.

BY
ProBuzzFeed