Iran to Launch Drone Drills

Drones are seen at an underground site at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on May 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Drones are seen at an underground site at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on May 28, 2022. (Reuters)
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Iran to Launch Drone Drills

Drones are seen at an underground site at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on May 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Drones are seen at an underground site at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on May 28, 2022. (Reuters)

Iran's armed forces will on Wednesday launch large scale drone drills across the country involving 150 unmanned aerial vehicles to show off its “power”, state media reported Tuesday.

“The accuracy and power of weapons... the capabilities of guidance and control systems and the combat capabilities of drones are among the things that will be tested and evaluated in this exercise,” deputy coordinator of the armed forces Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told the state broadcaster.

“This is the first time that a joint drone exercise is conducted at the level of the four forces of the republic of Iran's army and the country's joint air defense base,” he added.

No details were given as to how long the exercises would last.

Iran started developing drones in the 1980s during its eight-year war with Iraq.

“This is only a part of the drone power of... Iran's army, which is carrying out operations in various reconnaissance, surveillance and combat missions,” Sayyari added.

The drills will take place “from the warm waters of the Gulf and the Sea of Oman in the south, to the eastern, western, northern and central parts of the country,” he said.

Iran's army unveiled its first division of ships and submarines capable of carrying armed drones in July when US President Joe Biden was touring the Middle East.

In May, state television broadcast footage of an air base for drones under the Zagros mountain range in the west of the country.

Iran’s drone program has sparked international concern over its supplying of the aircraft to its regional proxy militias, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and armed factions in Iraq and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

The US and Israel, arch-enemies of Iran, have previously accused Tehran of using drones and missiles to attack US forces and Israel-linked ships in the Gulf.

Washington said in July that Iran plans to deliver “hundreds of drones” to Russia to aid its war on Ukraine, an accusation Tehran dismissed as “baseless”.



US House Speaker Johnson Will Travel to Israel on June 22 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
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US House Speaker Johnson Will Travel to Israel on June 22 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)

US House Speaker Mike Johnson will travel to Israel to address the parliament on June 22, he said on Wednesday.

"Our ties run deeper than military partnerships and trade agreements," Johnson said in an emailed statement.

Punchbowl News, which first reported Johnson's plan, said the House Speaker was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem during the trip.

Johnson did not provide further details on the planned trip.

Johnson announced the visit as Israel presses on with its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, more than 20 months after it launched its offensive there in response to a deadly incursion into Israel led by the Palestinian group Hamas.

On Tuesday, Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions on far-right Israeli cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israel called the action "outrageous" and said the Israeli government would hold a meeting early next week to decide how to respond.