The Iranian Army says it has taken delivery of 1,000 new drones equipped with stealth capabilities and designed to target enemy fortifications.
Tasnim said the weapons were formally handed over to the armed forces on Jan. 13, at a ceremony attended by Iranian Army Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi and Defence Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh.
The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), designed by defence ministry experts, include multipurpose strategic drones that can be used for reconnaissance, patrol missions, electronic warfare, data collection, and aerial combat.
Earlier this month, Iran started a series of war games in which the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps defended the country’s key nuclear installation in Natanz against mock attacks by missiles and drones.
Nasirzadeh said: “What is showcased in the exercises is only the shareable portion of our capabilities. We also possess astonishing equipment, which will be utilized by our armed forces if necessary.”
Nasirzadeh said the drones were equipped with artificial intelligence, although that is usual for all UAVs.
Mousavi said, “The deliveries, unveilings, and exercises across the geography of Iran and the oceans demonstrate the capacity and readiness of the armed forces.”
Tasnim said the drones had a range of 1,240 miles, “high destructive power,” and the capacity to pass through defence layers with low radar profiles.
Tasnim said the Iranian Army had also received Arash drones, which it said can carry out so-called suicide missions at long range and with “pinpoint accuracy.”
Last year, on April 13 and Oct. 1, Iran itself used drones and missiles against targets inside Israel, as part of its war against the Jewish state which began when Hamas terrorists crossed the border from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, and massacred 1,200 Israelis.
It is not clear whether Iran’s latest drones would be able to bypass THAAD. If not, Iran might try to use hundreds of them, and missiles, in an attempt to overwhelm Israel’s defences.
After that attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “I can now confirm that we have concluded the Israeli response to Iran’s attacks against Israel.”
Since then, there has been an uneasy truce between Israel and Iran.
It remains to be seen whether the new drones will embolden Tehran, following its major political and military reverses last month when Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, its longtime ally, was ousted by rebels from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Last week, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a speech to an Iranian opposition group in which he described the Assad regime in Syria as having been the “bridge between all of the Iranian proxy forces.”
He said of the Assad regime, “The fact that it fell so quickly, that it was such a paper tiger and I think that’s told the world that the ayatollah [Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei] is finished, that his time is complete.”
The IDF and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have not commented on Iran’s drone announcement.
