Iran is facing accusations of supplying attack drones to Sudan’s army as the country’s civil war enters its fourth year, with US officials and analysts warning that drone strikes are increasingly hitting civilians, hospitals, schools and aid operations, Fox News reported.
The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023. Some estimates put the death toll as high as 400,000, while more than 11 million people have been displaced, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis.
A research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Mariam Wahba, told Fox News Digital that Iran has supplied the Sudanese Armed Forces with Mohajer-6 drones, produced by Qods Aviation Industries, a US-sanctioned Iranian entity.
Wahba described the Mohajer-6 as Iran’s “workhorse drone,” saying it is used for surveillance and precision strikes and has also been used in attacks involving Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah and the Houthis.
She said at least seven cargo flights traveled between Iran and Sudan between December 2023 and July 2024, likely carrying drones and components.
The report also cited the arrest of Iranian-born US resident Shamim Mafi at Los Angeles International Airport earlier this month. US prosecutors accused her of brokering a $70 million deal to supply Sudan’s Ministry of Defense with Mohajer-6 systems and other Iranian-made weapons, including bombs, fuses and ammunition.
A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California told Fox News Digital that Mafi remains in federal custody and is scheduled to be arraigned on May 8 in Los Angeles.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox that Washington is “greatly concerned” about the spread of drone warfare in Sudan and its impact on civilians and civilian infrastructure, saying both sides in the war have used drones to destroy hospitals and schools.
The spokesperson also said Islamist groups aligned with Sudan’s army have built ties with Iran and received support from the Islamic Republic, including training and assistance from the Revolutionary Guards.
UN officials have condemned recent drone attacks in Sudan. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said a UNHCR aid truck carrying emergency shelter supplies was hit by a drone in North Darfur on April 24, destroying all supplies. He said another drone attack the next day in El Obeid, in North Kordofan, killed seven people and wounded more than 20, citing a local medical group.
UNICEF’s Ricardo Pires told Fox that for Sudanese children, the sound of a drone has become “another dreadful signal to hide and hope they are not harmed next,” warning that streets, hospitals and schools are being turned into places of danger and death.
