Did a South African Telecoms Company Bribe Iran with Drones? In a bizarre deal, the South African telecommunications company MTN Group secured a lucrative multi-billion telecommunications deal in Iran in exchange for various technologies that Tehran apparently requested. Here's What You Need to Remember: Correlation does not imply causation — but there is no denying at least the visual similarities between Iran’s Ababil 3 and the South African designed/rebadged Denel Seekers that Iran now flies. Iran flies a wide range of drones and has been doing so since at least the 1980s. Their newest designs are quite advanced — and might have been a bribe from a South African telecommunications company.