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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Unveil Two Missile, Drone Bases

Drones at the new base. (Tasnim)
Drones at the new base. (Tasnim)
    London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Unveil Two Missile, Drone Bases

Drones at the new base. (Tasnim)
Drones at the new base. (Tasnim)

Iran's Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) unveiled two new missile and drone tunnel bases, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

“The two underground missile bases house ground-to-ground missile systems with advanced equipment, as well as attack drones penetrating the enemy's radar and defense networks,” said state media.

The Tasnim news agency reported that IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami and IRGC commander of Aerospace Force, Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh attended the inauguration ceremony of the two underground bases

The IRGC names underground missile bases as Missile Cities.

Tasnim’s report said the new base boasts homegrown drones with a range of 2,000 kilometers, twin missile launch platforms, and platforms for the launch of multiple drones.

It added that a combination of accuracy and quality in the employment of the new military systems was put on display in a massive exercise held in December 2021.

The IRGC had declared its ability to launch 60 drones simultaneously, according to Reuters.

Saturday’s unveiling comes days after Iran suffered another failed launch of a satellite-carrying rocket.

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies seen by The Associated Press showed scorch marks at a launchpad at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's rural Semnan province.

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World

Ukrainian Drones Strike Port, Oil Depot in Southern Russia, Authorities Say

Servicemen of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine take part in a tactical training exercise on a shooting range at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 29 May 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
Servicemen of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine take part in a tactical training exercise on a shooting range at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 29 May 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
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Ukrainian Drones Strike Port, Oil Depot in Southern Russia, Authorities Say

Servicemen of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine take part in a tactical training exercise on a shooting range at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 29 May 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
Servicemen of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine take part in a tactical training exercise on a shooting range at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 29 May 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)

Ukrainian ‌drones struck a tanker at Russia's port of Taganrog overnight and hit an oil depot in the city of Armavir, authorities in the southern regions of Rostov and Krasnodar said on Saturday.

Rostov region Governor Yury Slyusar said on Telegram ‌that fires on ‌the tanker and in ‌the ⁠port of Taganrog - ⁠a city of about 240,000 - had been extinguished, with no oil spill reported. Two people were injured, he said.

The city's mayor, Svetlana Kambulova, ⁠said a local state of emergency, ‌introduced ‌on May 27, had been extended.

In ‌the neighboring Krasnodar region, ‌authorities in Armavir, which has a population of 185,000, said a fire at an oil depot in the ‌city's industrial zone had been brought under control and ⁠that ⁠there were no injuries.

Rostov governor Slyusar said that almost 50 drones had been downed in the region, with attacks reported across the province, which borders Ukraine's Donbas, the focus of fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

Outside Taganrog, he said, only minor damage was reported.

World

US Sanctions Iranian Buyers of Military Technology

People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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US Sanctions Iranian Buyers of Military Technology

People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The United States announced Friday that it is "dismantling a sophisticated Iranian network" used to obtain sensitive military technology.

The network "impersonated and defrauded" dozens of American technology companies out of millions of dollars to "acquire advanced equipment, including spectrum analyzers and security detection devices, for Iran's defense sector," State Department Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

The statement did not name the technology companies who were lured into doing business through fake websites that "mimicked real American companies, using intermediaries in Dubai to receive shipments, and then smuggling the technology into Iran in violation of US sanctions."

The network was led by Iran-based Ali Majd Sepehr, the State Department spokesman said.

On Thursday, the State Department announced a $15 million reward for any information "leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its various branches."

On Friday, the White House said US President Donald Trump will only sign an agreement to end the war with Iran if it meets all his demands, amid uncertainty over the outcome of talks between Tehran and Washington.

World

Top US and Cuban Military Officers Meet at Guantanamo Bay

This photo posted on the X account of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on May 29, 2026, shows SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan (C), the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) General Roberto Legra Sotolongo (2nd/L) and other Cuban military officials, during their meeting at the perimeter of the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 29, 2026. (Handout / US Southern Command / AFP)
This photo posted on the X account of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on May 29, 2026, shows SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan (C), the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) General Roberto Legra Sotolongo (2nd/L) and other Cuban military officials, during their meeting at the perimeter of the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 29, 2026. (Handout / US Southern Command / AFP)
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Top US and Cuban Military Officers Meet at Guantanamo Bay

This photo posted on the X account of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on May 29, 2026, shows SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan (C), the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) General Roberto Legra Sotolongo (2nd/L) and other Cuban military officials, during their meeting at the perimeter of the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 29, 2026. (Handout / US Southern Command / AFP)
This photo posted on the X account of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on May 29, 2026, shows SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan (C), the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) General Roberto Legra Sotolongo (2nd/L) and other Cuban military officials, during their meeting at the perimeter of the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 29, 2026. (Handout / US Southern Command / AFP)

Senior US and Cuban military officers met on Friday at Guantanamo Bay, the US base on the communist island, as relations between the two countries deteriorate over President Donald Trump's threatened takeover.

US General Francis Donovan met with Cuban General Roberto Legra Sotolongo "for a brief exchange on operational security matters," US Southern Command said in a statement issued along with a photograph of the meeting.

"Gen. Donovan also led a perimeter security assessment of the naval base and discussed force protection, safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness with base officials."

Cuba's Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces stressed that "both delegations consider the meeting to have been positive" and they agreed "to maintain communication between the two military commands," according to a statement released on Facebook.

The uniformed men met at the US base at the southeastern tip of the island.

- Deteriorating relations -

Relations between Havana and Washington have continued to worsen since January, when the United States imposed a de facto oil blockade on the island by operating a military raid to remove leftist Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela.

Without Caracas as a lifeline, Cuba has struggled to keep electricity on, or food and medicine in stock.

Cuba's other allies in Russia, China and Iran are also facing US pressure to back off, through a fresh round of sanctions against Cuban companies and leaders. US officials also brought an indictment against former president Raul Castro, in a case that dates back to 1996.

Now Cuba is facing the brink of collapse.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is Cuban American, has said the US is seeing a diplomatic solution to the standoff.

Reports last week suggested that Havana was considering drone strikes on the base in the event of an American attack.

Donovan led a perimeter security assessment of the US facility and discussed safety of service members and operational readiness, the statement said.

Guantanamo Bay, 430 miles (700 kilometers) southeast of Miami, on the southeastern coast of Cuba, is notorious as the site of abuse against terror suspects detained after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Trump has also planned to use the base as a holding center for undocumented migrants.

"Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is a vital operational and logistical hub that supports US military efforts to counter threats that undermine security, stability and democracy in our hemisphere," US Southern Command said.