A drone that was found crashed in Wasit province on Monday is of Iranian origin and used for reconnaissance and one-way attacks, a defense analyst told The New Region.

A video of a crashed drone circulated on social media on Monday. The drone was found in Wasit’s al-Basha’ir town, and authorities from the area soon arrived at the site of the crash.

Video footage obtained by The New Region shows an unidentified #drone that crashed in #Wasit’s al-Basha’ir town on Monday. #TheNewRegion pic.twitter.com/vZ9txdAaHs

— The New Region (@thenewregion) June 24, 2024

“District Director Dr. Yas Abdul Khidhir went to the place where the drone fell, and after confirming the presence of the plane and that it was an unusual drone, the security authorities concerned with the matter were contacted to take necessary action,” read an official statement.

Though yet to be confirmed by Iraqi authorities, defense analyst Federico Borsari confirmed to The New Region the origin and model of the drone.

“The drone that was found crashed in Wasit province appears to be a Samad-1 model, used for both reconnaissance and kamikaze attack missions,” Borsari said.

The drone that was found crashed in #Wasit province appears to be a Samad 1 used for both reconnaissance and kamikaze attack missions, defense analyst Federico Borsari told The New Region.#TheNewRegion pic.twitter.com/qW2lCE7EvF

— The New Region (@thenewregion) June 24, 2024

The Samad UAV family, named after Houthi leader Salih al-Samad, is of Iranian origins and has reportedly been used by the Houthis, Iran, and Hezbollah.

According to Borsari, the range of the drone is “estimated somewhere between 500 and 800 km.”

He added that other versions have longer ranges, but the version that was found appears to have a 500km range, given it has no additional fuel tanks.

Iranian drones are among the most used forms of UAVs in the Middle East at the moment. Iran is believed to be supplying proxy groups across the region with its drones in a bid to attack its enemies, more specifically Israel, US and western forces.

Groups affiliated to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an official part of the Iraqi military, have time and again used Iranian drone models in attacks on the Kurdistan Region and US interests across Iraq.