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)
TT

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 Says Over 550 Migrants Reached its Canary Islands in 2 Days

A wooden boat used by migrants from Morocco is seen at the coast of the Canary Island on Friday, Oct.16, 2020. (AP Photo/Javier Bauluz, File)
A wooden boat used by migrants from Morocco is seen at the coast of the Canary Island on Friday, Oct.16, 2020. (AP Photo/Javier Bauluz, File)
TT

Spain Says Over 550 Migrants Reached its Canary Islands in 2 Days

A wooden boat used by migrants from Morocco is seen at the coast of the Canary Island on Friday, Oct.16, 2020. (AP Photo/Javier Bauluz, File)
A wooden boat used by migrants from Morocco is seen at the coast of the Canary Island on Friday, Oct.16, 2020. (AP Photo/Javier Bauluz, File)

More than 550 migrants have arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands in boats over the past two days, Spain’s maritime rescue service said Thursday. At least one body was found in one of the boats.

The Spanish archipelago off northwest Africa is continuing to experience large numbers of migrant arrivals as more people mainly from West Africa attempt the dangerous Atlantic crossing in ramshackle boats. In the first half of January, 3,409 migrants reached Spain by sea, the vast majority to the Canaries, Interior Ministry figures showed. About as many migrants came illegally during the same period last year.

In 2024, Spain received a record number of migrants who crossed illegally via sea, with more than 61,000 people having arrived on boats. Nearly 47,000 of those landed in the Canary Islands. They included several thousand unaccompanied minors, The AP reported.

The islands are roughly 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the closest point in Africa, but to avoid security forces, many migrants attempt longer journeys that can take days or weeks. The majority last year departed from Mauritania, which is at least 473 miles (762 kilometers) from the closest Canary Island, El Hierro.

Earlier this month, the Spanish migration rights group Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said that 50 people had died in the capsizing of a boat on its way to the Canary Islands. It reported that 44 of them were from Pakistan.

The European Union's border agency, Frontex, said irregular crossings into the bloc in 2024 fell 38% overall but rose by 18% on the Atlantic route between West Africa and the Canary Islands. It attributed the rise in part to more migrants leaving from Mauritania, which has become a primary point of departure for people attempting to reach Europe.

The International Organization for Migration recorded at least 5,000 migrants who died or went missing on the migratory route since it began keeping records in 2014. But Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) says the real death toll is significantly higher, and that over 10,000 people died or went missing while attempting the route last year alone.

Caminando Fronteras says it compiles its own figures from families of migrants and rescue statistics.