‘True Face of Iranian Regime’: Shahed Drone Displayed Inside US Congress

The US House Speaker Mike Johnson and leading Republican lawmakers strongly condemned Iran for its contribution to conflicts around the world on Thursday – from Ukraine to the Middle East – as they stood next to a Shahed 136 drone captured in Ukraine and brought to the United States via Poland.

The weapon was displayed during an event inside the US Congress’s Cannon Office Building organized by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a nonprofit organization that focuses on countering threats posed by the Islamic regime, including its nuclear program and military actions.

The Shahed 136, an Iranian-manufactured kamikaze drone, was a tangible symbol of Tehran’s threat against the West, the organizers said.

“This is the true face of the Iranian regime,” Jason Brodsky, policy director at the UANI, told Kyiv Post in respect of the drone.

Mark Wallace, former US Ambassador to the UN, currently UANI’s CEO, called the Shahed 136 “the most ubiquitous terror weapon of mass destruction in the world today.”

Johnson agreed, saying that loitering attack drones have changed the economics of war, and not in America’s favor.

Other attendees, such as Senator Ted Cruz, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, Senator James Lankford, described how Russia has been using Iranian drones to attack Ukrainian civilians condemning the Islamic regime for “doubling down” on their malign behavior. They also vowed to never let Tehran acquire nuclear weapons.

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The US has escalated its economic and military pressure on Tehran, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning that $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets could be repurposed to compensate regional Gulf allies for damages if Iran launches fresh attacks. The US Navy is actively providing armed escorts for approximately 7 million barrels of oil per day transiting the Strait of Hormuz to stabilize global energy markets.

Iran has reportedly provided Russia with thousands of Shahed 136 drones which it uses against civilian and military targets in Ukraine on a near daily basis.

From Aug. 1, 2024, to March 1, 2025, Kyiv reported that Russia launched more than 15,000 Shaheds, or the Russian produced copy the Geran 2, strike drones,  figures that recent reports issued by the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based non-profit confirmed.

The drone that was displayed to the US Congress on Thursday had been exfiltrated from Ukraine and brought to the US on a Polish C-130.

Addressing the event Bogdan Klich, former Polish Defense Minister, warned against the serious threats that Iran’s drone exports pose to Europe, including NATO members and their allies.