US warns of sanctions over Iran drone ties after Kiev strikes

The United States warned on Oct. 18 it would take action against companies and nations working with Iran's drone program after Russia used the imports for deadly kamikaze strikes in Kiev.

"Anyone doing business with Iran that could have any link to UAVs or ballistic missile developments or the flow of arms from Iran to Russia should be very careful and do their due diligence -- the US will not hesitate to use sanctions or take actions against perpetrators," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

"Russia deepening an alliance with Iran is something the whole world -- especially those in the region and across the world, frankly -- should be seeing as a profound threat," he said.

Ukrainian officials said that the strikes killed four people in Kiev -- including a couple expecting a baby -- and knocked out electricity to hundreds of towns and villages as the country prepares for winter.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the drone strikes showed the need to provide "everything possible" to Ukraine as its forces gain ground against Russian invaders ahead of winter.

The Russians are "attacking critical infrastructure like power plants, hospitals, the things that people need in their daily lives that are not military targets," Blinken told reporters at Stanford University in California.
"It is a sign of increased desperation by Russia, but it's also a sign of the levels that they will stoop to and that we've seen repeatedly when it comes to targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure," Blinken said.

In Washington, Patel said the United States also believed that Iran's shipment of the drones -- formally known as unmanned aerial vehicles -- violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which blessed a now...