Iran unveils new underground military drone base
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) showcased a new underground military drone base in a video showing the facility's layout and weaponry.
It portrayed an advanced unmanned system capable of evading radar detection and conducting surveillance of American naval assets.
Iran is aiming to protect its assets from potential air strikes and surveillance, particularly from Israel or the US, at a time where tensions are high.
In the inauguration ceremony, IRGC Major General Hossein Salami said, "What the Iranian people witness today represents only a fraction of the IRGC Navy's substantial drone capabilities."
The video, released by the country's national television, also showed the underground base's integration of various missile platforms and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). During the past few months, the IRGC has unveiled several underground missile bases and a subterranean naval base.
Mr Salami warned earlier this week that Tehran would "open the gates of hell" if attacked by the US or Israel.
His remarks came after strong threats issued by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who warned his country would act against Iran in the same way it did with its proxies in the region.
"What we have done to Hezbollah in Beirut, to Hamas in Gaza, to Assad in Damascus, we will do to you in Tehran," Mr Katz said, referring to deposed former Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.
Iran and the US are set to hold a fourth round of nuclear talks in Oman on Sunday. US President Donald Trump, who withdrew Washington from a 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers meant to curb its nuclear activity, has threatened to bomb Iran if no new deal is reached to resolve the long unresolved dispute.
Three previous rounds of talks in Oman and Rome ended with notes of optimism, with the two sides saying the atmosphere was friendly despite the countries' four decades of enmity.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier raised the possibility of Iran importing enriched uranium for any civilian energy.
Iran has found itself in a weaker place over the past year. Israel has decimated Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia backed by Iran that could launch a counter-attack in any war, and Iran's main ally in the Arab world, Mr Assad, was toppled in December.
The talks come ahead of President Trump's visit to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar next week.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Iran warns European nations over move to censure it for nuclear 'non-compliance'
Iran 's Foreign Minister warned the UK, France and Germany on Friday against backing a resolution censuring Tehran at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency next week, saying such a move would be a "strategic mistake". "Instead of engaging in good faith, the E3 is opting for malign action against Iran at the IAEA Board of Governors," Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X. "Mark my words as Europe ponders another major strategic mistake: Iran will react strongly against any violation of its rights." Mr Araghchi's warning comes as the three European nations prepare to join the United States in backing a draft resolution to censure Iran at next week's board meeting, a diplomatic source told AFP. The resolution would accuse Iran of failing to meet its obligations as a signatory of the Nuclear No-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and carries the threat of referral to the UN Security Council if Tehran "does not show goodwill", the source added. The move follows a quarterly report from the IAEA last week which cited a "general lack of co-operation" from Iran and raised concerns over undeclared nuclear material. The UN's nuclear watchdog also expressed 'serious concern' that Iran had stepped up its enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade level in recent months. The report said Iran had an estimated 408.6 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent as of May 17, up by 133.8kg since the last report in February. According to the IAEA, Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state to enrich uranium to 60 per cent, which is close to the roughly 90 per cent level needed for atomic weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran rejected the report as politically motivated and based on "forged documents" that it said had been provided by its arch foe Israel. In his post on X, Mr Araghchi said that despite "years of good co-operation with the IAEA – resulting in a resolution which shut down malign claims of a 'possible military dimension' (PMD) to Iran's peaceful nuclear programme – my country is once again accused of 'non-compliance'." "Falsely accusing Iran of violating safeguards – based on shoddy and politicised reporting – is clearly designed to produce a crisis," he said. The pressure on Iran comes as it holds indirect talks with the US, mediated by Oman, to reach an agreement that would see Tehran accept curbs on its nuclear activity in return for the lifting of economic sanctions imposed by Washington. The two sides have held five rounds of talks since April 12 but are at odds over the issue of uranium enrichment, which produces fuel for nuclear reactors or, at higher levels of purity, material for nuclear warheads. Iran's leaders say that it has the right to enrich uranium under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and that the issue is "non-negotiable", while President Donald Trump insists that US will not allow enrichment to continue on Iranian soil. Tehran and Washington are seeking a new agreement to replace a 2015 deal with major powers which Mr Trump unilaterally abandoned during his first term in 2018. The agreement quickly unravelled as Mr Trump reimposed sweeping sanctions on Iran, leading Tehran to begin breaching commitments it made under the pact including a 3.67 per cent cap on the level of its uranium enrichment. Britain, France and Germany, which were all party to the 2015 deal, are now considering whether to trigger a "snapback" of UN sanctions under its dispute resolution mechanism – an option that expires on the deal's 10th anniversary in October.
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Aftermath of Israeli air strike revealed after Beirut building reduced to rubble
The National reports from the scene of an overnight air strike on the Lebanese capital
Khaleej Times
5 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Netanyahu admits Israel supporting anti-Hamas armed group in Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the militant group Hamas, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it. Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab. The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a "criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks". Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Liberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was "giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons". "What did Liberman leak? That security sources activated a clan in Gaza that opposes Hamas? What is bad about that?" Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on Thursday. "It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers." Michael Milshtein, an expert on Palestinian affairs at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, told AFP that the Abu Shabab clan was part of a Bedouin tribe that spans across the border between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Some of the tribe's members, he said, were involved in "all kinds of criminal activities, drug smuggling, and things like that". 'Gangster' Milshtein said that Abu Shabab had spent time in prison in Gaza and that his clan chiefs had recently denounced him as an Israeli "collaborator and a gangster". "It seems that actually the Shabak (Israeli security agency) or the (military) thought it was a wonderful idea to turn this militia, gang actually, into a proxy, to give them weapons and money and shelter" from army operations, Milshtein said. He added that Hamas killed four members of the gang days ago. The ECFR said Abu Shabab was "reported to have been previously jailed by Hamas for drug smuggling. His brother is said to have been killed by Hamas during a crackdown against the group's attacks on UN aid convoys." Israel regularly accuses Hamas, with which it has been at war for nearly 20 months, of looting aid convoys in Gaza. Hamas said the group had "chosen betrayal and theft as their path" and called on civilians to oppose them. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, said it had evidence of "clear coordination between these looting gangs, collaborators with the occupation (Israel), and the enemy army itself in the looting of aid and the fabrication of humanitarian crises that deepen the suffering of" Palestinians. The Popular Forces, as Abu Shabab's group calls itself, said on Facebook it had "never been, and will never be, a tool of the occupation". "Our weapons are simple, outdated, and came through the support of our own people," it added. Milshtein called Israel's decision to arm a group such as Abu Shabab "a fantasy, not something that you can really describe as a strategy". "I really hope it will not end with catastrophe," he said.
