Tehran, Iran – The United Kingdom's defence ministry has backed a Ukrainian claim that Ukraine's forces likely shot down an Iranian-made drone that was used by Russia in its offensive against its neighbouring country. In its latest military intelligence update on Wednesday, the ministry said it was "highly likely" that Russia has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) made by Iran in the nearly seven-month war in Ukraine. "Russia is almost certainly increasingly sourcing weaponry from other heavily sanctioned states like Iran and North Korea as its own stocks dwindle," it said. The statement came a day after the Ukrainian military published several images and said it had likely shot down a drone near Kupiansk in Kharkiv that appeared to be an Iranian Shahed-136 model. The Iranian government has yet to comment on the claims, but its officials have previously denied supplying Russia with drones to be used in Ukraine, saying Iran would not assist either side in the war as it backed its resolution through dialogue. There are no known official specifications for the Shahed-136, but it is a so-called "suicide drone" that is capable of carrying a warhead over long distances.

Iran's recent seizure of unmanned US Navy boats shined a light on a pioneering Pentagon program to develop networks of air, surface, and underwater drones for patrolling large regions, meshing their surveillance with artificial intelligence. The year-old program operates numerous unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the waters around the Arabian peninsula, gathering data and images to be beamed back to collection centers in the Gulf. The program operated without incident until Iranian forces tried to grab three seven-meter Saildrone Explorer USVs in two incidents, on August 29-30 and September 1. In the first, a ship of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hooked a line to a Saildrone in the Gulf and began towing it away, only releasing it when a US Navy Patrol boat and helicopter sped to the scene. In the second, an Iranian destroyer picked up two Saildrones in the Red Sea, hoisting them aboard.

Iran's recent seizure of unmanned US Navy boats shined a light on a pioneering Pentagon program to develop networks of air, surface and underwater drones for patrolling large regions, meshing their surveillance with artificial intelligence. The year-old program operates numerous unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the waters around the Arabian peninsula, gathering data and images to be beamed back to collection centers in the Gulf. The program operated without incident until Iranian forces tried to grab three seven-meter Saildrone Explorer USVs in two incidents, on August 29-30 and September 1. In the first, a ship of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hooked a line to a Saildrone in the Gulf and began towing it away, only releasing it when a US Navy Patrol boat and helicopter sped to the scene. In the second, an Iranian destroyer picked up two Saildrones in the Red Sea, hoisting them aboard.

Iran's recent seizure of unmanned US Navy boats shined a light on a pioneering Pentagon program to develop networks of air, surface and underwater drones for patrolling large regions, meshing their surveillance with artificial intelligence. The year-old program operates numerous unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the waters around the Arabian peninsula, gathering data and images to be beamed back to collection centers in the Gulf. The program operated without incident until Iranian forces tried to grab three seven-meter Saildrone Explorer USVs in two incidents, on August 29-30 and September 1. In the first, a ship of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hooked a line to a Saildrone in the Gulf and began towing it away, only releasing it when a US Navy Patrol boat and helicopter sped to the scene. In the second, an Iranian destroyer picked up two Saildrones in the Red Sea, hoisting them aboard.

Tehran, Iran – Iran has delivered a so-called "peace initiative" for ending the Ukraine war, proposed by a European leader, to Russia. Standing next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian confirmed that he had handed over the European proposal that he said was given to Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi. "There are ideas to help establish peace and stop the fighting in Ukraine, and I shared these ideas with Mr Lavrov," Amirabdollahian said. He did not name the European leader behind the initiative or reveal any further details but said the proposal includes points on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and prisoners of war. Recent shelling around the plant in southeastern Ukraine has spurred fears of a possible nuclear disaster and prompted the International Atomic Energy Agency to deploy experts to visit the site.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. The U.S. Navy stopped an Iranian ship from taking an American sea drone in the Arabian Gulf Monday night. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy was in the process of towing the drone, which belongs to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet at 11 p.m. local time when the American Navy immediately sent out the nearby Navy coastal ship USS Thunderbolt. The 5th Fleet also repeatedly called Iranian officials, who then let the drone go.

The Mohajer-6 has the capability to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and the Shahed series is considered among the most capable of Iran's military drones, according to comments made by the Iranian military to local news media. Iran is a pioneer in drone technology, with at least four decades of design and manufacturing experience, and it has been providing combat drones to military groups and proxy militia in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. Officials in Israel, the United States and some Sunni Arab countries like Saudi Arabia have said they are increasingly concerned that Iran's advancing drone technology could destabilize the region and empower militias backed by Iran. In the shadow war between Iran and Israel, Iranian drones have been involved in attacks on ships and have targeted U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria. Israel has also attacked a secret facility in western Iran where hundreds of drones were believed to have been stored.

Iran is planning to supply hundreds of drones with combat weapon capabilities to Russia for use in Ukraine, a top US official said Monday. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security advisor, said the information received by the United States supported views that the Russian military is facing challenges sustaining its weaponry after significant losses in Ukraine. "The Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline," Sullivan told reporters. "Our information further indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these UAVs, with initial training sessions slated to begin as soon as early July," he said. Sullivan said it was not clear whether Iran had delivered any of the drones to Russia yet.

In early February, Israel sent six quadcopter drones containing explosives into a facility near the city of Kermanshah that was Iran's main manufacturing and storage plant for military drones, according to a senior intelligence official briefed on the operation. That Israeli attack destroyed dozens of Iran's drones. Iran retaliated by firing ballistic missiles at a housing complex in northern Iraq that it said had been used by Israeli agents to plot attacks against Iran. In June 2021, another attack using a quadcopter drone -- which explodes on impact -- was also launched from within the country. It struck the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, or TESA, in the city of Karaj.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. A woman stabbed her date whom she had met online in retaliation for the 2020 death of an Iranian military leader killed in an American drone strike, police said.Nika Nika Nikoubin is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing March 24. Nika Nikoubin, 21, has been charged with attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and burglary, KLAS-TV reported. Nikoubin and the man met online on a dating website, Henderson police wrote in an arrest report.