Trump’s strike on Iran deals a major blow to Putin’s war machine in Ukraine

U.S. strikes on Iran disrupt Shahed drone supply chain to Russia, potentially reducing Moscow's ability to terrorize Ukrainian civilians with Iranian-designed weapons of war.

Clara Kaluderovic is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, a former Schmidt Fellow at the Special Competitive Studies Project, and a member of the Aspen Strategy Group's Rising Leaders Class of 2026. She is a technology entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Mental Health Global, a nonprofit partnered with the Ukrainian Armed Forces to deliver AI-enabled mental health support in conflict zones. She is also co-founder of ex2, an AI nonprofit based at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani, developing large language models for underrepresented languages, including Kurdish.

Zelenskyy’s framing of the war in Iran through the lens of Ukraine's war is not incidental. Whatever Washington's stated objectives, the president, who has lived through the Ukraine conflict since the 2022 invasion, understands that Iran has been an active accomplice in Russia's war against Ukraine, and the United States has now acted against that accomplice.

By striking the Iranian regime that provided the Shahed drones to Russia (and the ability to manufacture them) that have terrorized the Ukrainian civilian population for over four years, Washington has taken out a key Russian ally, which will negatively impact Russia’s ability to wage war in Europe.