I’ve shared the analysis that follows with friends on Capitol Hill, and hope you’ll benefit from it as well.
The Ukraine and Iran conflicts are close in a strictly geographic sense. The northwesternmost point in Iran is just 550 miles from the occupied Crimea—a shorter distance than most of Ukraine is from the city of Moscow, as the drone flies.
More importantly, Iran and Russia are authoritarian accomplices.
Iran outfitted the Russian military with Shahed attack drones and provided specialists to train Kremlin forces to murder Ukrainians with them. Russian forces have fired 57,000 Iranian drones at Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began. Ukraine, ever the resilient and innovative nation, has become a hub of expertise in drone interception.


