The suicide drones fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen at Tel Aviv last week were manufactured primarily with US components, highlighting violations of US sanctions on Tehran, Republican Sen. Ted Curz says, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

Not only was the drone manufactured with US parts, it was funded by over $100 billion in sanctions relief granted by the Biden administration, Cruz wrote in a letter sent to the White House on Monday.

“The construction of the drones is enabled by the regime’s access to American components, and indeed the drones are built almost entirely from components produced by U.S. companies,” Cruz wrote.

“Military production of the drones is financed by funds available to the Iranian regime, including roughly 100 billion dollars that the Biden administration has allowed to flow to the Ayatollah.”

Cruz’s letter was written only days after the Biden administration renewed a sanctions waiver for the Islamic Republic, releasing over $10 billion which Tehran uses to produce drones exported to Israel’s enemies as well as to Russia for its war against Ukraine.

“These drones are made almost entirely of American components, including ones cannibalized from other machines or transferred through third or fourth-party distributors using convoluted routes to move tiny electronics,” Cruz wrote. “U.S. export and trade restrictions are aimed in part to prevent the acquisition of such components by rogue regimes such as Iran; their failure suggests either a lack of will or ability by the Biden administration.”

“The Iranian regime has engaged in the use and mass proliferation of loitering munitions—so-called suicide drones—by its own forces, Russia, and its terrorist proxies across the Middle East for decades. Those munitions are being used to attack U.S. service members and our allies, including Israel and Ukraine, and more broadly to undermine American national security interests.”

The White House is aware of the issue and in 2022, formed an “expansive task force” to explore how Iran is obtaining US-made components and using them to manufacture drones.

However, two years later, “there has not been a single published update, report, or announcement,” Cruz wrote.

Cruz requested that the Biden administration “detail the task force’s activities to date” and disclose whether it has “engaged American companies whose components have been found in Iranian-made drones.”

Read the full letter here.

The drone used in the Houthi attack on Tel Aviv was identified by the IDF as an Iranian-manufactured Samad-3 drone that was revamped to have a further range.

On Tuesday, the Houthis released a video of what it claims is the launch of the drone at Tel Aviv:

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)