ALBAWABA - The United States has been pushing Iran to cease providing Russia with armed drones as part of discussions on a broader unwritten understanding between Washington and Tehran to de-escalate tensions, the Financial Times said on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the matter.
The announcement comes as Washington and Tehran work to alleviate tensions and restart larger negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would welcome any Iranian moves to de-escalate its "growing nuclear threat".
According to the Financial Times, these discussions took place alongside last week's negotiations on a prisoner exchange arrangement. Iran authorized four arrested US citizens to be transferred to house arrest from Tehran's Evin prison, while a fifth was already under house arrest.
According to Reuters, Iran may release five arrested US citizens as part of an agreement to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian money in South Korea.
Russian drones deployment
In the midst of all these warnings, and according to the latest UK Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine, Russia has most probably begun to deploy domestically built one-way attack Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (OWA-UAVs) based on Iranian Shahed designs. The Russian army has begun purchasing Iranian-made systems since September 2022.
The update also elaborated to say that Indigenous manufacturing will likely allow Russia to establish a more reliable supply of OWA-UAVs. The performance of these weapons has been variable and Ukraine has proved effective in neutralizing the majority of incoming OWA-UAVs.
Additionally, in the following months, Russia is likely to aim for self-sufficiency in OWA-UAVs. In the meanwhile, Russia relies on Iranian components and full weapons, which are mostly supplied across the Caspian Sea.
