US House Passes Stop Iranian Drones Act

A drone at the Iranian army's annual parade last week (Iranian Presidency)
A drone at the Iranian army's annual parade last week (Iranian Presidency)
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US House Passes Stop Iranian Drones Act

A drone at the Iranian army's annual parade last week (Iranian Presidency)
A drone at the Iranian army's annual parade last week (Iranian Presidency)

The US House of Representatives unanimously passed the Stop Iranian Drones Act (SIDA) to end its drone program and impose sanctions on its supporters.

The bill was approved by 424 votes against two and required approval from the Senate and a presidential signature to become law.

Republicans Tom Massie and Marjorie Greene were against the bill.

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

Democratic Representative Ted Deutsch tweeted: "time, and again, Iran has used UAVs to threaten global stability and US interests. Congress countered this destabilizing behavior today and passed the Stop Iranian Drones Act."

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said the Act would stop Iran or Iranian allies from acquiring combat drones that could be used against US troops or US allies.

Alleging that Iran is "the world's leading exporter of terrorism," Stefanik said the world should know Washington will "use every tool at its disposal to cut off Iran's access to deadly weapons."

The legislators spoke of the importance of approving such a draft as Iran uses the drones to spread panic in the Middle East and attack US forces, Israel, and allies in the region.

They urged the Senate to pass the exact version of the bill quickly ahead of sending it for signing at the White House.

Last December, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mike McCaul, warned of the danger of drones against the US and its allies in the Middle East.

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

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory 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, regional partners, and 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 it supports the Iranian drone program and will not be tolerated by the US government.

The senators pledged to expedite the bill's approval, which was put forward by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Bob Menendez, and its top Republican, Jim Risch, in December.

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.

"Iran's increasing reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles to attack US personnel and assets across the Middle East and shipping vessels, commercial facilities, and regional partners is a serious and growing menace to regional stability," said Menendez.

He warned that Iran's reckless export of this technology to proxies across the region represents a significant threat to human lives.

"We must do more to hold Iran accountable for its destabilizing behavior as we continue to confront the threat of its nuclear program."

Risch said the US must do more to halt "Iran's regional terrorism," as "we saw with recent Iranian-sponsored drone attacks on American troops and the Iraqi Prime Minister, as well as the constant attacks on Saudi Arabia."



Israel Killed 30 Iranian Security Chiefs and 11 Nuclear Scientists, Israeli Official Says

A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Israel Killed 30 Iranian Security Chiefs and 11 Nuclear Scientists, Israeli Official Says

A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Israel killed more than 30 senior security officials and 11 senior nuclear scientists to deliver a major blow to Iran's nuclear ambitions, a senior Israeli military official said on Friday in summarizing Israel's 12-day air war with Iran.

In the United States, an independent expert said a review of commercial satellite imagery showed only a small number of the approximately 30 Iranian missiles that penetrated Israel's air defenses managed to hit any militarily significant targets.

"Iran has yet to produce missiles that demonstrate great accuracy," Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at the CNA Corporation specializing in satellite imagery, told Reuters.

In Israel, the senior military official said Israel's June 13 opening strike on Iran severely damaged its aerial defenses and destabilized its ability to respond in the critical early hours of the conflict.

Israel's air force struck over 900 targets and the military deeply damaged Iran's missile production during the war that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire, the official said.

"The Iranian nuclear project suffered a major blow: The regime's ability to enrich uranium to 90% was neutralized for a prolonged period. Its current ability to produce a nuclear weapon core has been neutralized," the official said.

Iran, which denies trying to build nuclear weapons, retaliated against the strikes with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites and cities. Iran said it forced the end of the war by penetrating Israeli defenses.

Iranian authorities said 627 people were killed in Iran, where the extent of the damage could not be independently confirmed because of tight restrictions on the media. Israeli authorities said 28 people were killed in Israel.

Eveleth, the independent US expert, said Iran's missile forces were not accurate enough to destroy small military targets like US-made F-35 jet fighters in their shelters.

"Because of this the only targets they can hit with regularity are large cities or industrial targets like the refinery at Haifa," he told Reuters.

Iranian missile salvos, which were limited by Israeli airstrikes in Iran, did not have the density to achieve high rates of destruction, he wrote on X.

"At the current level of performance, there is effectively nothing stopping Israel from conducting the same operation in the future with similar results," he wrote.

In a statement on Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had directed the military to draft plans to safeguard air superiority over Iran, prevent nuclear development and missile production, and address Iran's support for militant operations against Israel.

Israel's military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General, Eyal Zamir, said on Friday the outcome in Iran could help advance Israeli objectives against the Iranian-backed Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.

Zamir told troops in Gaza an Israeli ground operation, known as "Gideon's Chariots," would in the near future achieve its goal of greater control of the Palestinian enclave and present options to Israel's government for further action.