IRGC Commander: Iran Has Drones With Range of 7,000 Km

In this photo released on May 21, 2021, by Sepahnews, the website of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a new Gaza drone is displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran. (Sepahnews via AP)
In this photo released on May 21, 2021, by Sepahnews, the website of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a new Gaza drone is displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran. (Sepahnews via AP)
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IRGC Commander: Iran Has Drones With Range of 7,000 Km

In this photo released on May 21, 2021, by Sepahnews, the website of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a new Gaza drone is displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran. (Sepahnews via AP)
In this photo released on May 21, 2021, by Sepahnews, the website of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a new Gaza drone is displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran. (Sepahnews via AP)

Iran has drones with a range of 7,000 km, Iranian state media cited the top commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as saying on Sunday, a development which may be seen by Washington as a threat to regional stability.

Tehran's assertion comes as Iran and six major powers are in talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal that former US President Donald Trump exited three years ago and reimposed sanctions.

Western military analysts say Iran sometimes exaggerates its capabilities, but drones are a key element in Tehran's border surveillance, especially the Gulf waters around the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil supply flows.

Iran and regional forces it backs have increasingly relied on drones in Yemen, Syria, Iraq in recent years.

"We have unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) with long range of 7,000 kilometers. They can fly, return home, and make landing wherever they are planned to," the Guards commander-in-chief Hossein Salami was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

US President Joe Biden is seeking to revive and eventually broaden the nuclear pact to put greater limits on Iran's nuclear and missile programs, as well as constraining its activities.



Spain's Sanchez Urges Other EU Members to Suspend Free Trade Agreement with Israel

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends a military parade to mark the country's National Day, in Madrid, Spain, October 12, 2024. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends a military parade to mark the country's National Day, in Madrid, Spain, October 12, 2024. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
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Spain's Sanchez Urges Other EU Members to Suspend Free Trade Agreement with Israel

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends a military parade to mark the country's National Day, in Madrid, Spain, October 12, 2024. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends a military parade to mark the country's National Day, in Madrid, Spain, October 12, 2024. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday urged other members of the European Union to respond to Madrid and Ireland's request to suspend the bloc's free trade agreement with Israel over its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
For months, both Spain and Ireland have been in talks with other EU countries who want a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching the agreement's human rights clause.
Israel began a war on the Gaza Strip a year ago after the Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas group launched a surprise attack into Israel killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 people hostage.

The war has shattered much of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, killing more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. It says more than half were women and children.
In late September, Israel shifted some of its focus to Hezbollah, which holds much of the power in parts of southern Lebanon and some other areas of the country, attacking the militants with exploding pagers, airstrikes and, eventually, incursions into Lebanon.