releases: https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-to-biden-sanction-russian-company-building-drones-with-iran
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-to-biden-sanction-russian-company-building-drones-with-iran | Cotton to Biden: Sanction Russian Company Building Drones with Iran | 2023-12-01 | 2023 | 2023-12 | Republican | Senate | AR | Tom Cotton | C001095 | www.cotton.senate.gov | cotton | https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases | scraper | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Caroline Tabler (202) 224-2353 December 1, 2023 Cotton to Biden: Sanction Russian Company Building Drones with Iran Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today sent a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to sanction a Russian weapons manufacturer for working with Iran to produce drones to use in the war in Ukraine. The Russian company, JSC Alabuga, is receiving technological assistance from Iran in exchange for Russian military equipment. In part, Senator Cotton wrote: “The growing Russia-Iran axis poses a major threat to the United States and its partners. Your administration must immediately bolster sanctions against both Russia and Iran and impose a severe cost on this anti-American alliance. Sanctioning the company building Iranian drones on Russian soil is the obvious first step.” Full text of the letter may be found here and below. December 1, 2023 President Joseph R. Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear President Biden, I write to you regarding the growing defense partnership between Russia and Iran and the need to apply sanctions against the Russian weapons manufacturer JSC Alabuga. As you are aware, Tehran has deepened its relationship with Moscow since February 2022, providing Russia with hundreds of drones for use in its war against Ukraine. Recently, we learned that Iran is assisting the Russian company JSC Alabuga to produce its own version of Iran’s Shahed-136 kamikaze drone, known as the Geran-2, on Russian soil. If not sanctioned soon, Alabuga will reportedly be able to produce 6,000 Geran-2 drones by September 2025. Russian production of combat drones will not only augment Moscow’s lethality, it could also augment Tehran’s as Russian demand slackens and the ayatollahs can increasingly use its Shahed-136 drones for its own malign purposes. Moscow could also share the Geran-2 or its technology with other adversarial parties that threaten our allies to pressure and test American resolve. Iran did not share its drone technology for free. In exchange for its assistance, Iran is set to receive Russian military equipment including fighter jets and attack helicopters. Such equipment will doubtlessly be used to defend Iran’s nuclear program as it continues its pursuit of the nuclear bomb. The growing Russia-Iran axis poses a major threat to the United States and its partners. Your administration must immediately bolster sanctions against both Russia and Iran and impose a severe cost on this anti-American alliance. Sanctioning the company building Iranian drones on Russian soil is the obvious first step. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely, ______________________ Tom Cotton United States Senator ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T01:40:41Z | 2026-04-08T01:14:16Z |