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."



8 Dead, Dozens Wounded in Russian Strike on Ukraine's Odesa Port

A firefighter works at the site of a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine in this handout picture released December 20, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS
A firefighter works at the site of a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine in this handout picture released December 20, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS
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8 Dead, Dozens Wounded in Russian Strike on Ukraine's Odesa Port

A firefighter works at the site of a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine in this handout picture released December 20, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS
A firefighter works at the site of a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine in this handout picture released December 20, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS

Eight people were killed and 27 wounded in a Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa, southern Ukraine, late on Friday, Ukraine’s Emergency Service said Saturday morning.

Some of the wounded were on a bus at the epicenter of the overnight strike, the service said in a Telegram post. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot, and cars were also damaged.

The port was struck with ballistic missiles, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces hit a Russian warship and other facilities with drones, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement Saturday.

The nighttime attack on Friday hit the Russian warship “Okhotnik,” according to the statement posted to the Telegram messaging app.

The ship was patrolling in the Caspian Sea near an oil and gas production platform, The Associated Press reported. The extent of the damage is still being clarified, the statement added.

A drilling platform at the Filanovsky oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea was also hit. The facility is operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil. Ukrainian drones also struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.


Satellite Imagery Shows ‘Recent Activity’ at Iran Nuclear Facility

An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP
An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP
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Satellite Imagery Shows ‘Recent Activity’ at Iran Nuclear Facility

An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP
An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP

New satellite imagery shows recent activity at the Natanz nuclear facility that was damaged during June's 12-day war with Israel, according to the US-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).

During the June conflict, the IAEA confirmed Israeli strikes hit Iran's Natanz underground enrichment plant.

The think tank said the satellite imagery from December 13 show panels placed on top of the remaining anti-drone structure at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), providing cover for the damaged facility.

It suggested the new covering allows Iran to examine or retrieve materials from the rubble while limiting external observation.

The Natanz uranium enrichment facility, located some 250 km south of the Iranian capital Tehran, is one of Iran's most important and most controversial nuclear facilities in the Middle East.

Although the facility “likely held several kilograms of highly enriched uranium,” ISIS stressed that such material is “not negligible” in the broader context of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

While PFEP shows renewed activity, ISIS said it has not observed similar signs at other major nuclear sites, including the underground Fordow facility also damaged in June by airstrikes.

Inspections
On December 15, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has reiterated that Iran must allow inspectors access to the three key nuclear facilities that enrich uranium and were hit by the US and Israeli airstrikes last June.

Speaking to RIA Novosti, Grossi said the agency’s activities in Iran are very limited. “We are only allowed to access sites that were not hit.”

In October, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog told AP that Iran does not appear to be actively enriching uranium but that the agency has recently detected renewed movement at the country’s nuclear sites.

Grossi said that despite being unable to fully access Iranian nuclear sites, inspectors have not seen any activity via satellite to indicate that Tehran has accelerated its production of uranium enriched beyond what it had compiled before the 12-day war with Israel in June.

“However, the nuclear material enriched at 60% is still in Iran,” Grossi said in an interview at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

“And this is one of the points we are discussing because we need to go back there and to confirm that the material is there and it’s not being diverted to any other use,” he added, “This is very, very important.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on December 8 that resuming the agency’s inspections is currently not possible because “there is no protocol or guideline” for inspecting facilities he described as “peaceful.”

ISIS reported on October 3 that new satellite imagery shows that Iran is ongoing construction efforts at a mountainous area just south of the Natanz enrichment site known as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or Pickaxe Mountain.

On Sept. 26, The Washington Post said according to a review of satellite imagery and independent analysis, Iran has increased construction at a mysterious underground site in the months since the US and Israel pummeled its main nuclear facilities, suggesting Tehran has not entirely ceased work on its suspected weapons program and may be cautiously rebuilding.


Rubio: Venezuela Cooperates with Iran, Hezbollah

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Rubio: Venezuela Cooperates with Iran, Hezbollah

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused the illegitimate regime in Venezuela of cooperating with criminals that threaten the national security of the United States.

Rubio said Friday the regime of President Nicolas Maduro openly cooperates with Iran, Hezbollah, and drug trafficking groups.

“They (Venezuela regime) operate and cooperate with terrorist organizations against the national interest of the United States, not just cooperate, but partner with and participate in activities to threaten the national interest of the United States,” he told reporters at a news conference at the State Department.

According to Rubio, Venezuela is a country that is not just an illegitimate regime that does not cooperate with the US but also a regime that openly cooperates with criminal and terrorist elements, including Hezbollah, Iran and others.

“And clearly these narco groups cooperate openly from there,” the Secretary of State said.

“We have a regime that cooperates with Iran, that cooperates with Hezbollah; that cooperates with narcotrafficking and narcoterrorist organizations, inclusive not just protecting their shipments and allowing them to operate with impunity, but also allows some of them to control territory,” he added.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he was leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table, according to an interview with NBC News published on Friday.

“I don't rule it out, no,” he told NBC News in a phone interview.

Trump also said there would be additional seizures of oil tankers near Venezuelan waters, according to the interview. The US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week.

“If they're foolish enough to be sailing along, they'll be sailing along back into one of our harbors,” he told NBC News.

On Tuesday, Trump ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government, targeting its main source of income, following which Venezuela's government said it rejected Trump's “grotesque threat.”