Amid accusations against Iran of exporting drones to Russia, Washington is investigating Tehran's use of Western-made parts

CNN reported that US President Joe Biden's administration has launched a wide investigation into Iran's use of Western-made parts to manufacture drones used by Russia against Ukraine, while an informed source ruled out Washington's current imposition of new sanctions on Tehran to restrict this industry.

According to CNN, an examination of a number of drones that were shot down by Ukrainian forces showed that 82% of their components were made by American companies.

The examination showed that the Iranian drones contain high-quality tactical sensors and American semiconductors.

He also indicated that the components of the Iranian drones were manufactured by 70 companies in 13 countries, and that one of them contained Japanese batteries and an Austrian engine.

CNN added that what increases the US administration's fears is that Iran has begun to transfer this technology to Russia, which is preparing to open a factory for drones.

Reports indicate that the "Shahid 171" march, for example, is an Iranian model of the American plane "RQ-170" (RQ-170), which was shot down by Tehran in 2011, and is used for espionage purposes, as Iran was able to decipher its technology and remake it using Reverse Engineering.

Experts also believe that the Iranians derived the Kawthar plane from the American F-5e Tiger ii by cloning the avionics and sensors.

As for the "Ababil 3" drones, they are cloned from the South African "SEEKER-2D" plane, which Iran acquired some copies in 2005, and then began producing them using reverse engineering.

Expected penalties

On the other hand, Reuters quoted an informed source that the Biden administration does not currently intend to disclose restrictions on the export of Iranian drones used by Russia, after Bloomberg Agency published on Wednesday a report on the possibility of announcing these restrictions as part of new sanctions.

This comes in conjunction with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's surprise visit to Washington, where he met Biden on Wednesday, in his first declared foreign visit since the start of the war 10 months ago.

The United States has previously imposed sanctions on companies and individuals, accusing them of producing or transporting Iranian drones that Russia used to attack infrastructure in Ukraine.

Iran acknowledged sending drones to Russia, but said it had sent them before the war on Ukraine, while Moscow denies its forces using Iranian drones there.