US House Committee Passes 'Stop Iranian Drones' Act

IRGC members in a drones factory (Tasnim)
IRGC members in a drones factory (Tasnim)
TT

US House Committee Passes 'Stop Iranian Drones' Act

IRGC members in a drones factory (Tasnim)
IRGC members in a drones factory (Tasnim)

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a bipartisan bill that would ban the supply, sale, or transfer of military drones to or from Iran under US law.

The bill promises to punish those who deal with the Iranian regime in the drones' program under the US Sanctions on conventional weapons.

The Stop Iranian Drones Act (SIDA) is supposed to be put before the House of Representatives for a vote before it is presented to the Senate and becomes an effective law for the US administration.

In late November, the bill was introduced by a group of Republicans and Democrats, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks.

The lawmakers behind the proposed legislation say it clarifies that US sanctions on Iran's conventional weapons program under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) include the supply, sale, or transfer to or from Iran of drones, which can be used in attacks against the US or its allies.

Rep Meeks pointed out that the "deadly drones in the hands of the world's greatest exporter of terrorism, Iran, jeopardizes the security of the United States and regional peace."

He asserted that the recent Iranian drone attacks on US troops, commercial shipping vessels, and against regional partners, along with the export of drone technology to conflict zones, pose a dire threat.

The Democratic representative stressed that the bill sends a strong signal to the international community that support for the Iranian drone program will not be tolerated by the US government.

In October, the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Iranian members working within a network of companies and individuals who supported Iran's drone programs.

The US Treasury Department issued sanctions against a pair of companies and a handful of individuals for supporting unmanned systems for the Revolutionary Guard Corps and its al-Qods Force. Among those sanctioned are Brig. Gen. Saeed Aghajani and top IRGC official Abdallah Mehrabi.

The department said that IRGC-Quds Force provided "lethal support" to Tehran's drone program. It said they helped spread Iranian drones to "Hezbollah, Hamas, Kata'ib Hizballah, the Houthis, and to Ethiopia."

"Iran's proliferation of UAVs across the region threatens international peace and stability. Iran and its proxy militants have used UAVs to attack US forces, our partners, and international shipping," added the department.

"The Treasury will continue to hold Iran accountable for its irresponsible and violent acts."

Ranking Member Michael McCaul warned that Iran's UAV proliferation threatens the US and its allies throughout the Middle East.

McCaul said that "these attacks are intolerable" whether Iran launches the attack, the Houthis, Iran-backed militia groups, or any other Iran-sponsored entities.

"The people of the Middle East, including Americans living there, cannot live in freedom, stability, or prosperity under assault by Iran's drones," said Rep McCaul.

The steps taken by the lawmakers come as the United States and Iran conduct their indirect negotiations in Vienna, aiming for a return to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Republicans in the US Congress intensified their moves against the steps taken by the Biden administration towards Iran, demanding a more assertive and aggressive role in dealing with the Iranian regime.



All 3 Iranian Consulates in Germany Ordered Shut

A photo taken on October 29, 2024 shows an exterior view of the Iranian Embassy in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
A photo taken on October 29, 2024 shows an exterior view of the Iranian Embassy in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
TT

All 3 Iranian Consulates in Germany Ordered Shut

A photo taken on October 29, 2024 shows an exterior view of the Iranian Embassy in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
A photo taken on October 29, 2024 shows an exterior view of the Iranian Embassy in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

Germany ordered the closure of all three Iranian Consulates in the country on Thursday in response to the execution of Iranian German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd, who lived in the United States and was kidnapped in 2020 by Iranian security forces.

Sharmahd, 69, was put to death in Iran on Monday on terrorism charges, the Iranian judiciary said. That followed a 2023 trial that Germany, the US and international rights groups dismissed as a sham.

The decision to close the Iranian Consulates in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich, announced by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, leaves Iran with only its embassy in Berlin, The Associated Press reported.

The German Foreign Ministry had already summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires on Tuesday to protest against Sharmahd’s execution. German Ambassador Markus Potzel also protested to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, before being recalled to Berlin for consultations.

Sharmahd was one of several Iranian dissidents abroad in recent years either tricked or kidnapped back to Iran as Tehran began lashing out after the collapse of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers including Germany.

Iran accused Sharmahd, who lived in Glendora, California, of planning a 2008 attack on a mosque that killed 14 people — including five women and a child — and wounded over 200 others, as well as plotting other assaults through the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar militant wing.

Iran also accused Sharmahd of “disclosing classified information” on missile sites of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard during a television program in 2017.

His family disputed the allegations and had worked for years to see him freed.

Iran pushed back against Germany’s protests. Araghchi wrote Tuesday on social network X that “a German passport does not provide impunity to anyone, let alone a terrorist criminal.”

He accused Baerbock of “gaslighting” and wrote that “your government is accomplice in the ongoing Israeli genocide.” Germany is a staunch ally of Israel and has sharply criticized Iranian attacks on Israel as tensions spiral over the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

The closure of consulates, a diplomatic tool Germany seldom uses, signals a major downgrade to diplomatic relations Baerbock said were “already at more than a low point.” Last year, Berlin told Russia to close four of the five consulates it then had in Germany after Moscow set a limit for the number of staff at the German Embassy and related bodies in Russia.

Iran's government “knows above all the language of blackmail, threat and violence,” Baerbock said Thursday. “The latest comments by the Iranian foreign minister, in which he puts the cold-blooded murder of Jamshid Sharmahd in the context of German support for Israel, also speak for themselves.”
“We repeatedly made unmistakably clear to Tehran that the execution of a German citizen would have serious consequences,” said Baerbock, adding that the cases of Germans held in Iran were a “central part” of a meeting she held with Araghchi in New York a month ago.
She said Berlin will continue with “tireless work” to get an unspecified number of other Germans released.