The Iranian Army has launched drones on navy targets amid a British condemnation of Iran launching a satellite into space that uses technology essential for ballistic missiles.
The training is part of maneuvers witnessing the participation of the electronic warfare unit, in addition to units from land, navy, and aerial forces.
The maneuvers are focused on the use of various kinds of UAVs.
IRGC-affiliated news agencies Tasnim and Fars published pictures of the launching of the Kararr drone.
The government-affiliated ISNA agency reported from the media body speaking for the maneuvers that the Karrar UAV tried for the first time to develop its combat capabilities from a land platform to an aerial platform in the desert.
The statement added that the drones are equipped with surface-to-surface missiles and designed to be used in aerial battles.
General Alireza Sheikh, the spokesperson for the drills, said that the use of this type of drone is “an extremely complicated process” adding that it would lead to “an effective deterrence.”
He went on to say that drones help the country increase defense, enhance tactical defense and the flexibility of air defense from a land platform to an aerial platform, and reduce costs and the risky use of individuals.
“A drone targeted another drone with a missile in an aerial combat (mission) which has been done for the first time in the country and we managed to destroy the targeted drone,” said Brigadier General Alireza Sabahi Fard, the commander of the Iranian Army's Air Defense Force.
The commander of the Iranian Army Air Force, Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi, said that his forces are keen on upgrading the drones’ capabilities.
The Iranian army showed in footage the targeting of a vessel by a suicide drone in the Gulf of Oman.
In the past two years, the army has acquired new weapons including missiles and drones that were exclusively used by the IRGC for years.
The army’s drills come two weeks before the deadline of the “Sunset Clause” stipulated in the nuclear deal timeline by which ballistic missiles and drone sanctions are lifted in the fifth year of Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal obligations.
Donald Trump's Administration withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018. Iran started to violate the deal’s obligations four years ago without fully withdrawing from it.
The European forces affirmed maintaining the sanctions against Iran due to its role in supplying Russia with drones in the war against Ukraine and its failure to comply with the deal.
The commander-in-chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, noted that the incorporation of pinpoint accuracy into ballistic missiles is a very complicated process, stating that Iran is among the three countries that exclusively possess such technical know-how.
Iran has successfully placed a third imaging satellite in orbit, a move that will likely garner more criticism from the Western world over fears that Tehran is using this as a cover to acquire transcontinental missiles with a potential 4,500-km range.
UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has released a statement in response to Iran launching the Noor-III satellite on September 27.
“Iran announced the successful launch of the Noor-III satellite using the Qased Space Launch Vehicle which uses technology essential for the development of a long-range ballistic missile system,” it said.
“Iran’s actions further prove its disregard of international restrictions and highlight the grave threat posed by the regime to global security.”
The statement added: “Alongside partners, the UK remains committed to taking every diplomatic step to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and to hold the regime to account for its malign activity around the world.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a press conference on Monday that the US believes “their missile – that those specific launchers are in violation – are in violation of the ballistic missile – the UN Security resolutions that relate to ballistic missiles with respect to Iran.”
