As I've been saying, Hamas, Hezballah and the Houthi's aren't the real enemy. They work for the mother ship and would be nothing without their finanial support and military hardware.
The Gaza invasion strengthen's their political hand.
Iran’s Arms Industry Goes Mainstream at Qatar Expo With Advanced ‘Gaza’ Drone
Tehran pitches products including its new ‘Gaza’ drone to the international market in Doha
Iran displayed a model of its ‘Gaza’ drone at an international arms fair in Qatar this month.
By Benoit Faucon, WSJ
Updated March 23, 2024
DOHA, Qatar—Iran says its latest drone can carry as many as 13 bombs with a turboprop engine that can power it over 1,000 miles at 35,000 feet. But its most distinctive feature is the name stenciled on the matte gray fuselage: “Gaza.”
A model of the Iranian defense industry’s new flagship product was exhibited at an international arms fair in Doha this month—the drone’s first display outside Iran, sharing a stage with products from American, Chinese and Turkish rivals.
Since the expiration of United Nations restrictions on Iran’s missile and drone exports in October, Tehran has increasingly sold its military wares on the international market, fueling concerns among the U.S. and its allies. The U.N. curbs had been part of the multilateral nuclear pact with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which the U.S. withdrew from under former President Donald Trump in 2018.
Iran has for years provided free weapons to its Mideast allies to support their activities. Drones and rockets either supplied or designed by Iran have featured prominently in recent attacks by Iran-backed forces, including the assault on Israel by Hamas that started the Gaza war on Oct. 7.
Iranian weapons have also played a role in the indirect confrontation waged between Iran and the U.S., including in the killing of three U.S. service members in a January drone attack in Jordan by an Iran-backed Iraqi militia.
But in Doha, there was no doubt that Iran’s defense industry is going mainstream.
The new “Gaza” drone, named by Iran in solidarity with the residents of the enclave after an escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2021, represents a stepped-up threat to U.S. interests and allies. With a stated range of 1,243 miles, a 68-foot wingspan and a satellite link, the unmanned aircraft could fly from Iran to Israel while loaded with 13 precision-guided bombs. Iran says the aircraft is operational.
By contrast, the Shahed-129, a common Iranian drone, carries only four explosives.
The Shahed drone, however, contributed to the rapid growth of Iran’s arms industry. Iran sold about $1 billion in weapons from March 2022 to March 2023, three times as much as the previous year, Deputy Defense Minister Mahdi Farahi said in November.
Recent Iranian defense deals include an agreement to sell short-range ballistic missiles to Moscow, according to U.S. officials, and the delivery of explosive drones to the Sudanese government for its 11-month war against rebels, according to African security officials.
Before October, such sales would have been prohibited or extremely difficult, requiring permission from the U.N. Security Council.
The U.S. has targeted Iran’s Defense Ministry, which booked the booth in Doha, with sanctions because of its connections with the Russian military, alongside sanctions targeting Iranian drone makers. Washington has also designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which controls Iran’s defense industry, as a terrorist organization. An official from Iran’s Defense Ministry declined to comment.
At the Iranian display in Doha, visitors pored over glossy Russian-language brochures touting a dozen products, including a new air-defense missile. A brochure advertising a space-rocket launcher was printed in Spanish—a reminder of Venezuela’s recent deployment of Iranian-made antiship guided-missile patrol boats. Flyers in Farsi and English promoted new antiship cruise missiles and radar systems—the sort of technologies used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to target American ships.
Iran has turned its ability to supply asymmetrical warfare—championing the underdogs against more powerful foes—into a sales pitch. One leaflet described Iran’s assault rifles as the best suited “for guerrilla warfare in all climate conditions.”
Sudanese official Mohammed Fath Alrahman came to Doha with a detailed shopping list of weapons for his government’s battle against Russia-backed rebels. After meeting with Iranian defense officials at the exhibition, Alrahman, who represented a government-backed militia, said he had discussed the purchase of 1,000 sniper rifles and night-vision equipment—and found Iran’s equipment a bargain.
“The quality is medium but it’s half-price” compared with the competition, he said.
Iranian defense officials also sat down with representatives from Qatar’s state defense contractor Barzan Holdings, who took a look at Iranian-made assault rifles. Barzan Holdings didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“I am very impressed by their medium-range missile technologies,” said a senior Qatar air force officer, visiting the booth in a peaked cap and epaulets. He said it wasn’t up to him to decide if Qatar should purchase them.
The Qatari defense officials were paying a courtesy visit to Iran’s booth, as they did for all exhibitors, according to a person familiar with the exhibition.
Nearby, a naval officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, recognizable by the insignia of two crossed machine guns on a blue background, strolled past the large U.S. pavilion. Exhibitors from the U.S., the world’s biggest arms exporter, included defense companies Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Atomics and Northrop Grumman—maker of the reconnaissance drone that Iran shot down in 2019.
Iran’s new drone represents an effort to catch up with the U.S.-made General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper, the drone used by the U.S. in 2020 to kill Iranian commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
General Atomics spokesman Mark Brinkley said he was aware of the Iranian drone exhibit in Doha—and said the Iranian copy could carry less than a third of the MQ-9’s payload. “Knockoff versions…are plentiful these days,” he said. “Often imitated, but never replicated. Don’t be fooled by look-alikes.”
The Iranian presence at the defense industry trade fair put Qatar, an American ally that hosts the region’s biggest U.S. largest military installation, in an awkward position.
The U.S. contacted the Qataris about Iran’s presence at the show, a State Department spokesperson said. “We continue to have serious concerns about Iran’s efforts to expand its proliferation of dangerous weapons that prolong and exacerbate conflicts around the world,” the spokesperson said.
Qatar, a tiny, energy-rich country, is used to such a balancing act. The Gulf nation has helped negotiate a now-blocked deal to exchange prisoners held in Iran for billions of dollars and is currently trying to broker a Gaza cease-fire.
While the exhibition was open, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, was in Washington receiving thanks from Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his efforts to facilitate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
A former Qatari official said hosting Iran at the trade show was part of Doha’s policy to assuage Tehran, allowing a symbolic presence. No arms deals were signed by the Iranian Defense Ministry during its delegation’s visit, at the trade fair or on the sidelines, according to the person familiar with the arms exhibition.
The display also gave Western agencies the opportunity to gather intelligence on Iran’s latest technologies. At the Iran booth, a man who later identified himself as a German official was cataloging each weapon on his phone.
Iran’s direct rivals in the defense market—China and Turkey—were also fixated on Tehran’s rising profile. A Turkish defense executive appeared confident that Ankara’s technologies could triumph over the newcomers. “Their drones are facing ours in Ukraine,” the executive said outside the Iranian booth. “Ours are more accurate while they have to sacrifice a dozen to hit their target.”
But Chinese manufacturers said they had unfair competition from cheaper Iranian missiles of lesser quality. A Chinese official at his country’s display in Doha said the Iranian weapons were essentially knockoffs.
“They often reverse-engineer our products,” said the official.
Write to Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com
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