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Reference News reported on August 15As the Biden administration desperately tries to prevent or restrict Iran and its proxies from launching missile and drone attacks on Israel, we should remember that the Middle East is already awash with Iranian weapons.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have carried out a historic long-range drone attack on Tel Aviv, killing one person. The Iranian-made drone completed a 2,600km flight.

While forward-deployed long-range strike systems are an important part of Tehran’s “Ring of Fire” strategy against Israel, they are not the only proliferation issue that the Biden administration must address. Iran is taking advantage of a more permissive international environment and building on its years of experience in proliferating weapons to non-state actors to become a weapons seller to many countries.

One way Iran could spark interest in other countries is by highlighting the role of its low-cost systems, such as drones, on the battlefield. The well-known Witness-136 drone, also known as the Geranium-2, has played a major role in Russia's ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

Moscow reportedly used 4,600 drones in the first two years of the conflict. The same drones were used in Iran's April 13 attack on Israel.

In addition to Ukraine and Israel, Iranian drones have appeared in at least two other continents, demonstrating the influence of Iranian weapons on international conflicts. In Venezuela, reports in 2012 showed that Tehran was providing assistance to Caracas by localizing drone production.