Iran’s military on Saturday tested new attack drones in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz as part of its ongoing annual drill, state TV reported.
Meanwhile, anti-government protests under way for more than three months continued. Videos on social media showed protests in Tehran’s grand bazaar and several cities and towns including in the Kurdish area. Part of Tehran’s bazaar closed in the wake of the protests, which authorities cracked down on.
State TV said the Ababil-5 attack drone was used during wargames for the first time and successfully hit its target with a bomb after traveling 400km. Iran has tested many other military drones over the past decade.
Photo: AFP / HO / Iranian Army Office
The military drones have been a point of contention between Iran and the US and its allies, which claim Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been used in attacks in West-backed Ukraine.
In November, Iran acknowledged that it has supplied Russia with drones, adding that the supply came before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Iran has said that it is committed to stopping the conflict.
The Strait of Hormuz is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and is crucial to global energy supplies, with about one-fifth of all oil traded at sea passing through it.
Commandos and airborne infantry participated in the wargames, dubbed “Zolfaghar-1401,” along with fighter jets, helicopters, military transport aircraft and submarines.
Iran’s military was to fire missiles and air-defense systems as well. Iran regularly holds such drills to improve its defensive power and test weapons.
Since mid-September, Iran has been shaken by anti-government protests, which were ignited by the death of a woman who was detained by the country’s morality police. The demonstrations rapidly escalated into calls for an end to more than four decades of the country’s clerical rule.
More than 500 protesters have been killed and more than 18,500 people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely monitored the unrest.
Iranian authorities have not released figures for those killed or arrested.
In related news, Iran’s military launched a drone to warn off a reconnaissance plane trying to approach the wargames, the semi-official Fars news agency said.
The report did not specify the nationality of the reconnaissance aircraft, but Iranian forces have had repeated similar confrontations with US forces in the Gulf.
The US Department of State referred questions to the Pentagon, which declined to comment.
“During the exercises, a P-8 manned intelligence aircraft belonging to extra-regional forces, which had tried to reduce altitude to collect more accurate information from the exercise area, was forced to leave the area by the firing of a Karrar drone by [Iran’s] air defense,” Fars said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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