Congress Intensifies Efforts against Iran's UAV Program

Senate Foreign Relations Committee put forward a bill imposing sanctions on Iran's UAV program (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee put forward a bill imposing sanctions on Iran's UAV program (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Congress Intensifies Efforts against Iran's UAV Program

Senate Foreign Relations Committee put forward a bill imposing sanctions on Iran's UAV program (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee put forward a bill imposing sanctions on Iran's UAV program (Asharq Al-Awsat)

US lawmakers have stepped up their efforts to confront the threat of the Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program after the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill imposing sanctions on it.

On Thursday, senators proposed a similar plan at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Committee Ranking Member, Jim Risch, and Chairman Bob Menendez introduced on December 16 bipartisan legislation to prevent Iran and any terrorist or militia groups aligned with Iran from acquiring lethal drones.

They indicated that the US government is intensifying its efforts to stop Tehran's flourishing lethal UAV program.

The Stop Iranian Drones Act of 2021 seeks to amend the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to include any action that seeks to advance Iran's UAV program, as defined by the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, as sanctionable under US law.

Menendez warned that 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 are a serious and growing menace to regional stability.

He cautioned that Iran's reckless export of this kind of technology to proxies and terrorist actors 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."

"I'm pleased to join our colleagues in the House of Representatives in this effort to add UAVs to existing laws that counter conventional threats from Iran, bringing it in line with the UN Register of Conventional Arms."

Risch asserted that the efforts must do more to halt Iran's regional terrorism.

"Iran's armed drone capability presents a growing threat to the Middle East. This legislation rightly imposes costs on the Iranian drone program and its supporters."

CAATSA, the US law passed by Congress in 2017, includes penalties for anyone who supplies, sells, or transfers combat drones to or from Iran, which can be used in attacks against the United States or its allies.



White House Withdraws Nomination for US Hostage Envoy

FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo/File Photo
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White House Withdraws Nomination for US Hostage Envoy

FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo/File Photo

The Trump administration has withdrawn the nomination of Adam Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, the White House said on Saturday.
Boehler, who has been working to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, will continue hostage-related work as a so-called "special government employee," a position that would not need Senate confirmation.
"Adam Boehler will continue to serve President Trump as a special government employee focused on hostage negotiations," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
"Adam played a critical role in negotiating the return of Marc Fogel from Russia. He will continue this important work to bring wrongfully detained individuals around the world home."
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Boehler withdrew his nomination to avoid divesting from his investment company. The move was unrelated to the controversy sparked by his discussions with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"He still has the utmost confidence of President Trump," said the official.
"This gives me the best ability to help Americans held abroad as well as work across agencies to achieve President Trump’s objectives," Boehler told Reuters in a brief statement.
Boehler recently held direct meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza. The discussions broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the US brands as terrorist organizations.
The talks angered some Senate Republicans and some Israeli leaders. According to Axios, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer expressed his displeasure to Boehler in a tense phone call last week.