Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow, according to a US intelligence report released on Friday.
As the Kremlin looks to lock in a steady supply of weaponry for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US believes a plant in Russia’s Alabuga special economic zone could be fully operational early next year.
“This is a full-scale defence partnership that is harmful to Ukraine, to Iran’s neighbours and to the international community,” Mr Kirby said.
The White House released a satellite image of the plan's prospective location, about 900km east of Moscow.
President Joe Biden's administration publicly stated in December it believed Tehran and Moscow were considering creating a drone assembly line in Russia for Ukraine war.
The new intelligence suggests the project, in the Yelabuga region of Tatarstan, has moved beyond conception.
The plant “could be fully operational” in early 2024, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“Russia has been using Iranian UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] in recent weeks to strike Kyiv and terrorise the Ukrainian population,” he said.
He added that the military partnership between Tehran and Moscow “appears to be deepening”.
A senior democratic aide in the Senate told The National that Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez's office was “not all that surprised” that “this is the next move and the trajectory of the deepening of military co-operation between Tehran and Moscow”.
“It seems kind of in line with the way that they have been operating over the last year together,” the staff member said.
The aide added that Mr Menendez would soon introduce a Senate companion to a House bill on Iranian ballistic missiles and would be “looking at ways to reintroduce the Stop Iranian Drones Act”, which aimed to expand existing provisions requiring sanctions against people or entities that provide certain types of weapons to Iran.
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Mike McCaul said the new intelligence highlighted the importance of his bipartisan Fight Crime Act, which would sanction anyone “supplying, transferring or developing Iranian missiles and drones”.
He also noted that international missile and drone restrictions on Tehran expire in October.
“Iran continues to support [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, providing hundreds of lethal long-range drones for use against civilians in clear violation of the UN missile embargo on Iran,” Mr McCaul told The National.
“We cannot give Iran free rein to spread terrorism and grow its unholy alliance with Russia.”
Mr Menendez's office added that “there is room for more” legislative action on Iran, but said the bulk of action needed is “primarily in the executive space”.
The White House shared new intelligence that it says shows Iran delivering drones via the Caspian Sea.
“The support is flowing both ways: from Iran to Russia, and from Russia to Iran,” Mr Kirby said.
US officials said the drones may be moved by ground transport to Seshcha and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and then to Russian armed forces.
The US also issued a new advisory about the threat of Iran's drone-related activities, and the steps necessary to prevent further development of Tehran's drone programme.
The US said recent reports of Iran offering to provide production technology to Russia and Tajikistan may be part of a broader move to evade export controls.
Washington said Tehran may also be seeking to strengthen bilateral relationships and boost the profits of its export sector.
Iranian drones used by Russia in its war against Ukraine show that Tehran's UAV programme has used materials the country cannot use domestically, the White House said.
Washington said Iran particularly relies on US-branded items such as field programmable gate arrays, RF transceivers, microcontrollers and capacitors.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since.
The US said Iran's UAV programme has also led to destabilisation in Yemen, with illegal shipments of drones being sent to the Houthi rebels, who have used the weapons to strike targets inside the country and abroad, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Iran last year opened a manufacturing facility in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan that produces Ababil-2 drones.
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
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The five pillars of Islam
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The five pillars of Islam
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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SERIE A FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Roma v Udinese (5pm)
SPAL v Napoli (8pm)
Juventus v Torino (10.45pm)
Sunday
Sampdoria v AC Milan (2.30pm)
Inter Milan v Genoa (5pm)
Crotone v Benevento (5pm)
Verona v Lazio (5pm)
Cagliari v Chievo (5pm)
Sassuolo v Bologna (8pm)
Fiorentina v Atalanta (10.45pm)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
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if you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals (more at www.hertz.com/etihad). A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
The hotels
Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com
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The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
New schools in Dubai
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
The five pillars of Islam
The years Ramadan fell in May
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
match info
Union Berlin 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')
Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
FULL%20RESULTS
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