During the confrontation with the United States, Iran deployed what The New York Times described as a «lethal weapon» — Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles. According to the newspaper, these drones were used to strike several American military facilities across the Middle East. Since the start of the military operation launched by the United States and Israel against Iran, as many as 2,000 drones may have been launched.

The Shahed drones were developed by Shahed Aviation Industries for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They have gained wide recognition as inexpensive and mass-produced loitering munitions — kamikaze drones that are increasingly used in modern armed conflicts.

Several attacks involving these drones have already been reported. On March 3, two UAVs struck the U.S. embassy in Riyadh. Earlier, on March 1, an Iranian kamikaze drone targeted the port of Ash-Shuayba in Kuwait, hitting a temporary office where American military personnel were stationed. Six U.S. servicemen were killed in the attack. According to CNN, the strike hit an improvised operations center after managing to bypass the air defense system.

Reports of Iranian drone activity have also emerged from Dubai, Manama, and even Cyprus. While most of the drones are intercepted, The New York Times notes that some still manage to break through air defenses.

According to a United Arab Emirates report dated March 1, Iran launched 165 ballistic missiles, two cruise missiles, and 541 drones toward the country. All missiles were either intercepted or fell into the sea, but 21 drones reached their targets, the newspaper reported.

The publication also highlights the economic dimension of this type of confrontation. Ballistic and cruise missiles are faster and far more destructive, but their production costs are dramatically higher — millions of dollars per unit, compared with tens of thousands of dollars for a drone. In addition, missile stockpiles are limited.

Jeremy Binnie, a Middle East defense specialist at the analytical company Janes, explained that under such conditions the main challenge is to intercept incoming threats as efficiently as possible. He noted that this approach allows Patriot interceptor missiles, which are available in limited numbers, to be reserved primarily for defending against ballistic missile strikes.