Iran sees new market for its drones in South America
Iran is seeing new demand for its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), with Bolivia expressing interest in obtaining Iranian drones, a development that shows Tehran’s focus on deepening its alliances in South America.
Bolivia’s defense minister has recently confirmed his country’s interest in acquiring Iranian drones, days after he visited Tehran for a bilateral meeting.
Bolivia is interested in obtaining Iranian drone technology to protect its borders and combat smuggling and drug trafficking, the Andean country’s Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo said on July 26, a day after Argentina expressed concern about an agreement reached between Iran and Bolivia and demanded information on the deal, according to AP.
Novillo dismissed those concerns, saying they were “exaggerated” and came from an Argentine lawmaker “who, I understand, has Israeli origins,” whom he did not name.
“Their technology could satisfy the requirement that we have raised,” he said, according to reports, without specifying what kind of drones his government wanted.
In 2022, Iran had the largest arsenal of missiles and drones in the Middle East, according to the US Defense Intelligence Agency, CNBC reported.
Iran’s drones have made “considerable impact on any battlefield they have appeared in,” according to Farzin Nadimi, an arms expert at The Washington Institute said.
Despite production and trade challenges due to heavy Western sanctions, the performance of Iranian drones is “at par with the competition, and in some respects, even better” — while also being cheaper, Nadimi said in a report by the U.S. Institute for Peace.
Two days after Novillo’s remarks, John Kirby, communications chief for the US National Security Council, said in an interview that the Biden administration is concerned about any export of Iranian technology.
An apparent marketing push to countries in the developing world has strengthened Iran’s alliances, while also improving revenue streams — something of critical importance to Tehran after several years of economic pressure under US sanctions.
Many Latin American countries cooperate with Iran as part of a broader opposition to the US, or because they are under US sanctions – in particular Venezuela, which has been receiving Iranian drone technology since 2007. On a recent visit to Latin America, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi stressed the importance of an alliance between Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela in a common struggle against “imperialism and domination” by the US and the West.
Since the socialist party returned to power in Bolivia in 2020, the country has made a concerted effort to revive ties with Venezuela and Iran.