Iran parades new “longest-range” drone on Iran-Iraq war anniversary, state media reports
PHOTO CAPTION: An Iranian drone is seen during the annual military parade in Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
(Reuters) - Iran on Friday paraded its military hardware on the anniversary of its 1980s war with Iraq, including "the longest-range drone in the world" along with ballistic and hypersonic missiles, Iranian state media said.
They said the drone "was unveiled” in the parade, which was broadcast live, and that drones displayed in the event were named Mohajer, Shahed and Arash.
The Islamic Republic said last month that it had built an advanced drone named Mohajer-10 with an enhanced flight range and duration as well as a larger payload.
It has an operational range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) and can fly for up to 24 hours, state media reported then, adding that its payload could reach 300 kg (661 pounds), double the capacity of the Mohajer-6 drone.
The United States has accused Iran of providing Mohajer-6 drones, among other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to Russia for its war against Ukraine. On Tuesday, Washington expanded Iran-related sanctions, citing Tehran's "continued, deliberate proliferation of UAVs" enabling Russia, its proxies in the Middle East and other destabilising actors".
Iran denies providing drones to Russia for the conflict in Ukraine.
“Our forces ensure security in the region and the Persian Gulf,” President Ebrahim Raisi said at Friday’s parade in the capital Tehran. “We can teach the people of the region that resistance is today’s way. What forces the enemy to retreat is not submission and wavering, but resistance.”
A video released last month by Iranian media showed the Mohajer-6 among other military hardware, with a text reading "prepare your shelters" in both Persian and Hebrew, the latter an allusion to Iran's arch-regional enemy, Israel.
The United States issued fresh Iran-related sanctions on Tuesday, targeting multiple people and entities in Iran, Russia, China and Turkey over Tehran's drone and military aircraft development.
The Iran-Iraq war erupted on Sept. 22, 1980 when the forces of then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Iran. The conflict, which was economically devastating and left at least half a million dead, ended in stalemate in August 1988.
(Editing by Mark Heinrich)
