Method and Sources

Each entry is one component as one document describes it: the part, any marking, the weapon system, where and when it was recovered or seized, and who documented it. The documenting body is a UN Panel of Experts, a U.S. agency, a U.S. court filing, or a U.S. rule in the Federal Register.

Rules

Verbatim passage. Every entry carries a passage copied from the document, with page and paragraph, checked word for word against a stored copy of that document.

Maker in the source's words. The maker or origin appears only as a phrase from that passage, so a hedge such as "seems to have been manufactured by" or "an unlicensed copy of" stays attached to the name. When the passage names no maker, the entry says so. A maker's name on a part is not a finding that the maker supplied the weapon; the UN Panel notes that civilian parts typically pass through intermediaries without the maker's knowledge.

Classifications as the source states them. Export-control numbers and links between parts appear only where a cited document states them. Weapon systems are named as the document names them, with the document's own sentence tying each system to Iran under Systems; where a passage names the weapon type without that tie, the Systems section shows the entry in a separate group.

Sanctions cross-links. Only entities that a cited document names are checked against the sanctions tables in MEF's data lake (OFAC SDN, UK OFSI, EU). A link is kept when the list entry's name or listed alias carries the document's wording; a link is dropped if the list entry cannot be found. Lists as of 2026-10-18.

Ukraine's HUR catalogue. HUR's War&Sanctions portal lists foreign parts in weapons used against Ukraine, with manufacturer and headquarters country. It is a wartime government source. The public pages show it as totals; full entries are on the researcher tier, and HUR entries carry no sanctions cross-links. HUR photographs, and CAR and DIA images, stay with their owners.

The headline figures. The headline gives the number of components whose cited UN or U.S. passage states a maker country other than Iran (13), and the number of such countries those passages name (10): Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States. A country is included only when the passage itself names it. HUR's catalogue, a single source, lists makers headquartered in 17 countries other than Iran, shown separately: Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Canada, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States. HUR's list includes Russia and Belarus (parts of a Geran-2 radar homing head) and Armenia and Ukraine (relays in Mohajer-6 and Shahed-238 drones), as HUR lists them.

The opening photograph. It is the photograph in figure XIV on page 34 of the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen report S/2022/50, taken out of the Panel's PDF at the size the Panel embedded it (683 by 454 pixels), with light sharpening and no other change. On wide screens the page trims a strip from each side of the photograph so it fills the column beside the headline; the full photograph opens with the component entry. The figure's title and source line, which sit outside the photograph on the page, are given in the caption.

People. Names of individual defendants are masked on the public tier, including in document links; the researcher tier carries the full documents. Companies and state bodies appear where a cited document names them.

Standing of each source. Each entry states it: UN Panel finding, U.S. government assessment, allegation in an indictment or complaint, trial evidence after a verdict, or statement in a U.S. rule. Allegations are unproven until a court rules.

Sources Consulted

Sources Not Retrieved

Corrections and Comments

Corrections are listed here with date and the part concerned. None yet. Manufacturers and named entities may write to info@meforum.org; responses are published alongside the part they concern.

How to Cite

Middle East Forum, Inside Iran's Arsenal, built 2026-10-19, entry identifier and access date.