Drones used by Iran-backed militias are coming from China, US says

Senior US official accuses Beijing of playing both sides in the Middle East’s race for drone technology.
A People's Liberation Army air force WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone is seen a day before the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China, Sept. 27, 2021.
A People's Liberation Army air force WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone is seen a day before the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China, Sept. 27, 2021. - Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images
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Jared Szuba
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Unmanned drones fired by Iran-backed militias at targets across the Middle East in recent years, sometimes with lethal effect, are being supplied from China, a senior US official revealed.

Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s top Middle East policy official, called it “an irony” that Beijing has been pushing sales of its military drones to Arab Gulf states while doing nothing to stem the flow of other Chinese-made drones to militias backed by Iran in the region.

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