Iranian Army Set to Hold 'Large-Scale' Drone Drill

FILE PHOTO: An Iranian locally made cruise missile is fired during war games in the northern Indian Ocean and near the entrance to the Gulf, Iran June 17, 2020. Picture taken June 17, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
FILE PHOTO: An Iranian locally made cruise missile is fired during war games in the northern Indian Ocean and near the entrance to the Gulf, Iran June 17, 2020. Picture taken June 17, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iranian Army Set to Hold 'Large-Scale' Drone Drill

FILE PHOTO: An Iranian locally made cruise missile is fired during war games in the northern Indian Ocean and near the entrance to the Gulf, Iran June 17, 2020. Picture taken June 17, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
FILE PHOTO: An Iranian locally made cruise missile is fired during war games in the northern Indian Ocean and near the entrance to the Gulf, Iran June 17, 2020. Picture taken June 17, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran’s army is set to hold a “joint and large-scale” drone drill with its different divisions primarily in central Iran on Tuesday, the state news agency IRNA reported.

The two-day drill will involve “hundreds of operational drones of the army’s ground, air and navy forces in the general area of Semnan (province) and different parts” of the country, IRNA said on Monday.

The Iran-manufactured drones will undertake “combat, surveillance, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare” in short and long distances flights, the agency added, AFP reported.

IRNA said the army will also showcase its “achievements” regarding drone manufacture in an exhibition with the presence of high-ranking military commanders.

The announcement comes at a time of heightened tensions with the US, and a day after Iran marked the first anniversary of the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani.

He was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January last year.

It also follows the US decision on Sunday to reverse a plan to bring the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz home from the sensitive Gulf waters.

The Pentagon said the Nimitz would stay in the region due to alleged “recent threats” by the Islamic Republic.



Iran Media: Russian Rocket Puts Iran Satellite into Space

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites and 18 payloads, including Iran's Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite, blasts off from its launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far-eastern Amur region, Russia July 25, 2025. Roscosmos/Ivan Timoshenko/Handout via REUTERS
A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites and 18 payloads, including Iran's Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite, blasts off from its launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far-eastern Amur region, Russia July 25, 2025. Roscosmos/Ivan Timoshenko/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran Media: Russian Rocket Puts Iran Satellite into Space

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites and 18 payloads, including Iran's Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite, blasts off from its launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far-eastern Amur region, Russia July 25, 2025. Roscosmos/Ivan Timoshenko/Handout via REUTERS
A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites and 18 payloads, including Iran's Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite, blasts off from its launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far-eastern Amur region, Russia July 25, 2025. Roscosmos/Ivan Timoshenko/Handout via REUTERS

A Russian rocket put an Iranian communications satellite into space on Friday, Iranian state media reported, the latest achievement for an aerospace program that has long concerned Western governments.

"The Nahid-2 communications satellite was launched from Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome using a Soyuz rocket," state television said.

Weighing 110 kilograms (over 240 pounds), the satellite was designed and manufactured by Iranian engineers, the broadcaster added.

Western governments have long expressed concern that technological advances made in Iran's space program can also be used to upgrade its ballistic missile arsenal, AFP reported.

The launch was announced shortly before nuclear talks between Iran and Britain, France and Germany opened in Istanbul.

In December, Iran announced it had put its heaviest payload to date into space, using a domestically manufactured satellite carrier.

In September, Iran said it had put the Chamran-1 research satellite into orbit using the Ghaem-100 carrier, which is produced by the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division.