Since the expiration of United Nations restrictions on Iran’s missile and drone exports in October, Tehran has increasingly sold its military wares on the international market, fueling concerns among the U.S. and its allies. The U.N. curbs had been part of the multilateral nuclear pact with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which the U.S. withdrew from under former President Donald Trump in 2018.

Iran has for years provided free weapons to its Mideast allies to support their activities. Drones and rockets either supplied or designed by Iran have featured prominently in recent attacks by Iran-backed forces, including the assault on Israel by Hamas that started the Gaza war on Oct. 7.

Iranian weapons have also played a role in the indirect confrontation waged between Iran and the U.S., including in the killing of three U.S. service members in a January drone attack in Jordan by an Iran-backed Iraqi militia.

But in Doha, there was no doubt that Iran’s defense industry is going mainstream.

The new “Gaza” drone, named by Iran in solidarity with the residents of the enclave after an escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2021, represents a stepped-up threat to U.S. interests and allies. With a stated range of 1,243 miles, a 68-foot wingspan and a satellite link, the unmanned aircraft could fly from Iran to Israel while loaded with 13 precision-guided bombs. Iran says the aircraft is operational.

By contrast, the Shahed-129, a common Iranian drone, carries only four explosives.

The Shahed drone, however, contributed to the rapid growth of Iran’s arms industry. Iran sold about $1 billion in weapons from March 2022 to March 2023, three times as much as the previous year, Deputy Defense Minister Mahdi Farahi said in November.

Recent Iranian defense deals include an agreement to sell short-range ballistic missiles to Moscow, according to U.S. officials, and the delivery of explosive drones to the Sudanese government for its 11-month war against rebels, according to African security officials.

Before October, such sales would have been prohibited or extremely difficult, requiring permission from the U.N. Security Council.

The U.S. has targeted Iran’s Defense Ministry, which booked the booth in Doha, with sanctions because of its connections with the Russian military, alongside sanctions targeting Iranian drone makers. Washington has also designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which controls Iran’s defense industry, as a terrorist organization. An official from Iran’s Defense Ministry declined to comment.

At the Iranian display in Doha, visitors pored over glossy Russian-language brochures touting a dozen products, including a new air-defense missile. A brochure advertising a space-rocket launcher was printed in Spanish—a reminder of Venezuela’s recent deployment of Iranian-made antiship guided-missile patrol boats. Flyers in Farsi and English promoted new antiship cruise missiles and radar systems—the sort of technologies used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to target American ships.

Iran has turned its ability to supply asymmetrical warfare—championing the underdogs against more powerful foes—into a sales pitch. One leaflet described Iran’s assault rifles as the best suited “for guerrilla warfare in all climate conditions.”

Sudanese official Mohammed Fath Alrahman came to Doha with a detailed shopping list of weapons for his government’s battle against Russia-backed rebels. After meeting with Iranian defense officials at the exhibition, Alrahman, who represented a government-backed militia, said he had discussed the purchase of 1,000 sniper rifles and night-vision equipment—and found Iran’s equipment a bargain.

“The quality is medium but it’s half-price” compared with the competition, he said.

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