Revolutionary Guards commander says Iran is exporting drones

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has said that it is exporting drones and missiles to other countries.

“In the military field, we did not have the capabilities that we have now. In the past, we used to import even barbed wire, but now we export drones,” said the IRGC's aerospace commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh at a university in the city of Mashhad on Monday, according to Iranian media.

Hajizadeh lauded Iran’s homegrown military industry, adding: “Undoubtedly, this path has been paved by establishing a relationship between knowledge-based departments, universities and military elites.”

Iran has previously supplied Venezuela and Ethiopia with drones, but currently concentrates on the Russian market.

Recently, Iran took part in a military hardware exhibition in Moscow, displaying drones.

The United States has previously expressed concerns that Iran could supply drones to Russia as it continues its invasion of Ukraine.

“We have information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN in July after revealing that a Russian delegation had visited Iran in June. 

The United States considers the IRGC a "terrorist" organisation and has refused Iranian demands, made during negotiations to re-start the 2015 nuclear deal, to de-list the organisation, which is a branch of the Iranian military.

Iranian-made drones have frequently been used in attacks across the Middle East, including in Iraq, Yemen, and allegedly against Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities.