Risky Business: DJI Launches Lobbying Blitz On Washington With Open Questions About Sales To Iran, Russia

(New York, N.Y.) — Less than 18 months after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted drones launched by Hezbollah and manufactured by China’s Da-Jiang Innovations Science & Technology Co. (DJI), DJI has launched a public affairs and lobbying blitz on the Biden administration and Congress. According to POLITICO, DJI in October retained Subject Matter, Vogel Group, and CLS Strategies “to fend off attacks from U.S. policymakers and preserve its dominance in the drone marketplace.”

It is imperative that the Biden administration and Congress probe how the Iran-backed terror group procured DJI products that were used to attack Israeli citizens and inquire why DJI has failed to refute compelling evidence collected by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) suggesting the company is either actively engaged in the Iranian market or failing to uphold its requirement that its dealers adhere to a “strict policy” against sales in Iran.

“DJI is not doing itself any favors by failing to come clean about illicit sales, demonstrating its determination that supposed Iranian dealers are selling bogus products, or presenting evidence that it has responsibly closed loopholes that led to authentic DJI products being sold in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. Silence rightly raises skepticism that DJI has been caught selling its technology to the terror-supporting Iranian regime. Officials in Washington should demand answers,” said UANI Research Director Daniel Roth.

DJI should also be required to account for having “sent drone parts – like batteries and cameras” to Russia in November and December 2022 via a dealer in the United Arab Emirates despite a suspension of sales to Russia and Ukraine in April 2022. DJI also needs to answer for Russia’s reported deployment of DJI’s Mavic 3 drone and Aeroscope drone-detection platform that enables users to identify the location of a drone operator. Russia is also known to use drones of Iranian origin to target and kill civilians and destroy critical infrastructure in Ukraine.

DJI has been under U.S. Treasury sanctions since 2021 for providing the Chinese state with drones to surveil and target the Uyghur minority in the western region of Xinjiang.