World

Iran claims it carried out 700 drone raids in Syria

October 16, 2018

TEHRAN — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have carried out 700 drone strikes against forces of Daesh (the so-called IS) in Syria, its aerospace chief told conservative news agency Fars on Tuesday.

“Our bomber drones have carried out 700 military operations using smart bombs against Daesh,” said Brig. Gen. Amirali Hajizadeh.

“They were used in eliminating tanks, personnel carriers, cars used for suicide attacks and 23- millimeter cannons — these were targets prized by Daesh and we significantly turned the tide of battle,” he added.

The guards most recently used military drones against Daesh targets in Syria on Oct. 1, in retaliation for a deadly attack in September on a military parade in Iran’s southwest claimed by the militant group.

Seven military drones as well as six ballistic missiles struck the “Daesh headquarters” in the eastern Syrian town of Hajin, about 24 km north of Albu Kamal bordering Iraq, state TV reported.

Iranian media said published images indicated the drones were locally-produced “Saegheh” craft, reverse-engineered from a US RQ-170 Sentinel captured by Iran in 2011.

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, said at the time that the strikes were the first time the drones had “crossed multiple countries and reached their targets.”

It was also the first time Iran had officially announced it was using combat drones outside of its borders, the conservative Tasnim news agency said.

Land-to-sea missiles

can now travel 700 km

Iran has extended the range of its land-to-sea ballistic missiles to 700 km (435 miles), a senior Iranian military official said on Tuesday, as tensions over the weapons rise with the United States.

US President Donald Trump withdrew from an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in May, saying it was flawed because it did not include curbs on Iran’s ballistic missiles program or its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.

Iran, which says its missile program is purely defensive, has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if Washington tries to strangle Tehran’s oil exports.

“We have managed to make land-to-sea ballistic, not cruise, missiles that can hit any vessel or ship from 700km,” Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ airspace division, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

He did not give details on the previous range of the missiles. In 2008, Iran displayed a ground-to-sea missile that it said could travel about 290 km. — Agencies


October 16, 2018
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