TEHRAN – Western countries have ramped up their criticism of Iran over the alleged provision of drones to Russia, inadvertently revealing the progress Iran made in the field of military equipment manufacturing.

The Council of the European Union imposed sanctions on a number of Iranian individuals and one entity last week over their alleged role in supplying Russia with drones for use in the Ukraine war.  “The Council today added three Iranian individuals and one Iranian entity to the list of those subject to restrictive measures for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. This is in view of their role in the development and delivery of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) used by Russia in its war against Ukraine,” the Council said in a statement on October 20. “The Council has also signaled its intention to impose restrictive measures against a further two individuals and two entities on the same grounds.”

The sanctions came amid a continued Western uproar over Iran allegedly providing Russia with drones, an accusation Iran firmly rejected. Iran said it does not take sides in the Ukraine war and supports a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis. 

Aside from the Western drone hurly-burly, the accusations against Iran reveal how much Iran made progress in terms of producing elements of power in a relatively short period of time. In short, Iran has come a long way in terms of upgrading, and in some cases building from scratch, its military capabilities. 

Iran lacked almost any kind of domestically-built weaponry only a few decades ago. Of course, this is not to say that Iran did not have weapons. It did have. But almost all of its weaponry was bought from abroad. And that proved a big problem during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s (locally known as the Sacred Defense).

During the war, Iran was not able to produce barbed wars, let alone missiles and drones. Iran faced countless problems in purchasing its defense needs due to restrictions and sanctions. And that was the biggest motive to discover internal capabilities. 

In the postwar period, Iran moved quickly to develop an array of weapons ranging from tanks and armored vehicles to state-of-the-art missiles and drones. This was first met with mockery and underestimation from Iran’s foes and rivals, especially those in the West.

“A few years ago, when pictures of our advanced missiles and drones were published, they said they are photoshopped pictures! Now they say Iranian drones are dangerous. Why do you sell them to so and so? These are feats carried out by Iranian elites. They bring honor to our country,” Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said in a recent speech delivered at a meeting with a group of academic elites and outstanding scientific talents. 

Today, Iran is a drone power. It went from importing barbed wires to having a list of 22 countries asking to buy Iranian drones. And that is not lost on those who used to mock Iranian pictures.