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Iran Launches Air Defense Drill Amid Rising Regional Tensions

An anti-drone missile is launched from the Khordad defense system during a military maneuver off the Arabian Gulf. (AP)
An anti-drone missile is launched from the Khordad defense system during a military maneuver off the Arabian Gulf. (AP)
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Iran Launches Air Defense Drill Amid Rising Regional Tensions

An anti-drone missile is launched from the Khordad defense system during a military maneuver off the Arabian Gulf. (AP)
An anti-drone missile is launched from the Khordad defense system during a military maneuver off the Arabian Gulf. (AP)

Iran said on Friday that it successfully carried out an air defense drill using drones designed to intercept hostile targets in an area stretching from its southwestern to southeastern coasts amid heightened tensions in the region.

“Iranian forces have successfully launched a new air defense method that uses drones to intercept and target hostile targets,” state-run Press TV quoted an Iranian army spokesman as saying.

The two-day drills, which began on Thursday, covered an area from Abadan in southwestern Iran to Chahbahar in southeastern Iran.

Press TV said the army’s air force and navy, the aerospace force and the navy of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) participated in the exercises.

Iran launched ballistic missiles at Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan against “ISIS sites” and in Iraq against what it said was a spy base for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad.

On Dec. 10, Iran reinforced its air defense capabilities by adding combat drones equipped with air-to-air missiles to its arsenal.

In Oct., the army launched large-scale joint drone drills across the country, including the coastlines of the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The army and its parallel counterpart, the Revolutionary Guard, jointly defend official borders across land, sea, and air. Recently, the army grappled with outdated weaponry and equipment while authorities prioritized bolstering the IRGC and enhancing its military capabilities.

However, over the past two years, the army forces have repeatedly declared the acquisition of drones, ballistic missiles, and "cruise" missiles.

The US and Israel accuse Tehran of providing fleets of drones to its loyal armed groups in the Middle East, notably to the Lebanese group Hezbollah, to the Houthis in Yemen, and armed Iraqi militias.

In April, Iran's defense ministry delivered the army with more than 200 new drones equipped with missile capabilities and electronic warfare systems.

Iran deployed a military flotilla to international waters. The flotilla departed Friday from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.

Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, commander of the Iranian navy, said Iran now simultaneously has four military flotillas in international waters.

Irani pointed to the navy’s two major operations in recent months, including the seizure of a US oil tanker in the Sea of Oman.

Earlier this month, Iran's Alborz warship entered the Red Sea to secure shipping routes amid heightened tension linked to the internationally significant water corridor.

On Jan. 11, Iran's navy seized a ship off Oman to retaliate for the confiscation of its oil from the same tanker last year by the United States.

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UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
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UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)

The UN head, Pope Francis and others called Monday for nations to end the production and use of land mines, even as their deployment globally grows.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message to delegates at the fifth review of the International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, that 25 years after it went into force some parties had renewed the use of antipersonnel mines and some are falling behind in their commitments to destroy the weapons.

“I call on states parties to meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the convention, while addressing humanitarian and developmental impacts through financial and technical support,” Guterres said at the opening of the conference in Cambodia.

“I also encourage all states that have not yet acceded to the convention to join the 164 that have done so. A world without anti-personnel mines is not just possible. It is within reach.”

In a statement read on behalf of Pope Francis, his deputy Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that antipersonnel land mines and victim-activated explosive devices continue to be used. Even after many years of hostilities, “these treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children.”

“Pope Francis urges all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines,” he said.

The treaty was signed in 1997 and went into force in 1999, but nearly three dozen countries have not acceded to it, including some key current and past producers and users of land mines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia.

In a report released last week by Landmine Monitor, the international watchdog said land mines were still actively being used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea. It added that non-state armed groups in at least five places — Colombia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Gaza Strip — had used mines as well, and there were claims of their use in more than a half dozen countries in or bordering the Sahel region of Africa.

At least 5,757 people were killed and wounded by land mines and unexploded ordnance last year, primarily civilians of whom a third were children, Landmine Monitor reported.

Landmine Monitor said Russia had been using antipersonnel mines “extensively” in Ukraine, and just a week ago, the US, which has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war, announced it would start providing Kyiv with antipersonnel mines as well to try and stall Russian progress on the battlefield.

“Antipersonnel mines represent a clear and present danger for civilians,” Guterres said in his statement. “Even after fighting stops, these horrifying and indiscriminate weapons can remain, trapping generations of people in fear.”

He praised Cambodia for its massive demining efforts and for sharing its experience with others and contributing to UN peacekeeping missions.

Cambodia was one of the world's most mine-affected countries after three decades of war and disorder that ended in 1998, with some 4 million to 6 million mines or unexploded munitions littering the country.

Its efforts to rid the country of mines has been enormous, and Landmine Monitor said Cambodia and Croatia accounted for 75% of all land cleared of mines in 2023, with more than 200 square kilometers (80 square miles).

Prime Minister Hun Manet joined the calls for more nations to join the Mine Ban Treaty, and thanked the international community for supporting Cambodia's mine clearance efforts. He said they have reduced land mine casualties from more than 4,300 in 1996 to fewer than 100 annually over the last decade.

“Cambodia has turned its tragic history into a powerful lesson for the world, advocating against the use of anti-personnel mines and highlighting their long-term consequences,” he said.