On the anniversary of its 1980s war with Iraq, Iran exhibited its military hardware on Friday, including “the longest-range drone in the world” as well as ballistic and hypersonic missiles, according to Iranian official television.
They claimed the drone “was unveiled” during the procession, which was televised live, and that the drones on show were called 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.
U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing Mohajer-6 drones, among other unmanned aerial vehicles, to Russia for its war against Ukraine. Tehran denies this.
“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 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.