Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
Al-Monitor — Iran’s armed forces paraded multiple drones, missiles and other military hardware on Thursday, as the country marked the national Army Day that falls on the anniversary of its 1980s war with Iraq.
During the televised ceremony in Tehran, 16 different types of drones were paraded before President Ebrahim Raisi and Iran’s most senior men in uniform.
According to state media, the unmanned aircraft came from varying generations of Mohajer, Ababil, Amin, Arash, Kaman and Shahed drones. Without specifying, state TV also said one of those drones had the longest range in the world.
Shahed and Arash drones are among the many that Western officials accuse Tehran shipping to Russia, where they are used against Ukraine. Tehran dismisses the charge. While claiming that no such deliveries have been made during the ongoing conflict, Iran does not deny its increasingly close military alliance with Russia either.
In August, the Islamic Republic unveiled its latest domestically produced drone, dubbed Mohajer 10, which it says can fly for 24 hours.
The ceremony saw the first public display of the Paveh cruise missile, a projectile developed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in February, which according to Tasnim news agency has a range of 1,650 kilometers.
“Hypersonic Fattah”
Another major missile showcased was the hypersonic Fattah, which Iran announced in June, saying it could fly as fast as 9,000 miles per hour.
Apart from the IRGC, Iran’s regular army, known as Artesh, also presented a wide range of other equipment in the Thursday events, including its Majid defense system and generation-3 Zolfaghar tanks.
Speedboats and other vessels carrying missiles were separately shown off in a drill in the Persian Gulf, where tensions between Iran and Untied States have been simmering recently. US military reinforcements have unnerved the Islamic Republic, which Washington blames for threatening maritime security in the strategic waters through ship seizures.
The tensions were referenced by the hardline president in his address to the Tehran parade. Raisi renewed criticism against the foreign military presence in the Persian Gulf, maintaining that Iran “stretches hands” to regional states for cooperation to take control of regional security from “the strangers,” whose presence has only “caused problems rather than solved them.”
