Iran says Ukraine deployed micro-drones in region, weighs response

An Iranian security source has told the Tasnim news agency that Ukraine has deployed drone units equipped with micro-drones across several countries in the region surrounding Iran, and has established an operational network for these micro-drones. The source said the identities of the host countries harboring the Ukrainian forces and drones are being withheld for now but will be disclosed at an appropriate time.

According to the source, Ukrainian operatives have deployed thousands of micro-drones within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The source said Tehran views the move as part of a broader campaign of hostile actions by Europe and NATO against Iran and is currently considering an appropriate response. The source described the activities as a failed attempt and a scandal for Ukraine, and said Tehran is fully aware of and closely monitoring Kiev's activities.

The source referred to a past incident in which Ukraine targeted an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, an act of hostility to which Iran showed restraint, and said Iran will not allow Europe or Ukraine to advance anti-Iranian agendas. The remarks come amid reports that Ukraine has taken part in anti-Iranian activities, including drone-related support for parties involved in what the report described as a 40-day US-Israeli aggression against Iran, and assistance to Persian Gulf states hosting US military bases. There have previously been discussions about the presence of Ukrainian forces in West Asia, described as aimed at sabotage and at training militants in the use of drones, leading analysts to call the country a new operational arm for NATO in the region.

In the summer of 2025, police in Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq announced the arrest of three Ukrainians who were overseeing the training of a local group in the use of small unmanned aerial vehicles. The police said the training was intended to facilitate assassination operations and was funded and supervised by a terrorist group operating in northern Iraq. The report said this is not the first time Ukrainian-linked operatives have been implicated in events across the Middle East, adding that personnel from Ukraine's security apparatus are currently operating as mercenaries in various regions, receiving payment from the United States, the United Kingdom and the Zionist regime.

The report traced the first instance of Ukrainians engaging in sabotage in the region to the attack on a graduation ceremony at a military academy in Homs, Syria. At the time, Russian sources reported that the operation was directed by Ukrainian operatives. The drone attack in Homs in October 2023 resulted in at least 100 deaths, many of them family members of the young Syrian officers killed in the strike. According to Mehr News, citing the Tasnim report, the Iranian source said Tehran is weighing its response to the reported deployment.