'Why was the threat of Iranian drones overlooked for so long?'

A fragment of an Iranian Shahed drone, found in a camp belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Party, on the Road to Dara Shakran, about 30 kilometers from Erbil (Iraq), March 9, 2026. PAULINE GAUER FOR LE MONDE

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ince the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, the world has suddenly seemed to realize the scale of the threat posed by Iranian drones.

Until then, international attention had been focused on the nuclear program and ballistic arsenal of the Islamic Republic of Iran. But dramatic footage of drones striking in the Gulf, particularly at hotels in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, quickly went viral.

Moreover, the firing of these types of drones marked a dangerous escalation of the conflict, whether it was the strike on a British base in Cyprus on March 1, or the attack on Azerbaijani territory four days later.