In one of the Iranian-made Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles, which was shot down in the fall of 2022 in Ukraine, parts made by at least 13 different companies from the United States were found. This is reported by CNN with reference to Ukrainian intelligence data.
This data, as noted by the TV channel, is another proof that despite the sanctions, Iran is still finding a large amount of commercially available technology. Among the 52 components that the Ukrainians removed from the drone, 40 were manufactured by 13 different American companies, the rest by companies in Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan and China.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, among the American-made components found in the drone are almost two dozen parts manufactured by Texas Instruments, including microcontrollers, voltage stabilizers and digital signal controllers; GPS module produced by Hemisphere GNSS; microprocessor manufactured by NXP USA Inc. and printed circuit board components manufactured by Analog Devices and Onsemi.
Also found were components made by International Rectifier, now owned by Germany's Infineon, and Swiss company U-Blox.
All of the companies that responded to CNN's inquiry stressed that they condemn any unauthorized use of their products, noting that combating the diversion and misuse of their semiconductors and other microelectronics is an industry-wide problem that they are working to address.
Sanctioned Iranian companies appear to be successfully circumventing efforts to cut off supplies of critical components and electronics. For example, the company that built the downed drone - Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Corporation - has been under US sanctions since 2008.
According to CNN, Ukraine transferred information about American components in Iranian drones to the United States as early as the end of 2022. But, the TV channel adds, the possibilities of combating the problem of unauthorized use of electronics are limited.
For years, the US has implemented tough export control restrictions and sanctions to prevent Iran from receiving high-tech materials. US officials are now considering tightening enforcement of these sanctions, encouraging companies to better monitor their own supply chains and identify third-party distributors who are illegally reselling products.
There is no evidence that any of the companies whose details were found in Shahed-136 are violating US law and knowingly exporting their technology to Iran. Even though many companies promise to increase monitoring, it is often difficult for manufacturers to control where these very common parts end up on the global market.
It will be recalled that in November, the United States imposed additional sanctions against individuals and legal entities involved in the production or transfer of Iranian drones to Russia, and in December - also against Russian institutions due to their involvement in the illegal purchase of drones from Iran and their use in the war in Ukraine.
The EU also introduced new sanctions against Iran for supplying Russia with drones to wage war against Ukraine.