The Iranian Revolutionary Guard launched a missile drill and drone on Friday that contained suicide drones in the shape of a wedge that closely resembles the craft used to attack a Saudi oil facility in 2019.
The ‘Great Proprophet 15’ exercises also saw IRGC launch about a dozen ballistic missiles from behind mobile missions scheduled in the desert.
Iran has long denied the attack on the Abqaiq-Khurais attack where global oil supply lines were cut off for some time after drones and cruise missiles entered the largest oil processing plant. in Saudi Arabia and a nearby oil field.
However, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. say Iran has direct responsibility, citing fragments of a drone wreckage as their main evidence.
And on Friday, the IRGC released a video of similar drones crashing into targets and exploding as part of their latest drill.
The pictures of the drills included planes in the shape of a triangle that strongly resembled those used in the 2019 invasion of Saudi Arabia that cut the kingdom’s oil production by half. Iran denies involvement in the attack
A scene from the video showed the drones entering Iranian targets described as ‘hypothetical enemy bases’ and melting
Saudi Arabia has unveiled a shipwreck of drones and cruise missiles that it says were used in the attack against its oil resources at the weekend
Named after the great prophet 15, Friday’s drill revealed a ‘new generation’ of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, according to Guard’s Sepah news website.
It involved a drone attack and then ‘blocking of Zolfaghar, Zelzal and Dezful-class ballistic missiles,’ the site said.
According to the Guards, the missiles were ‘equipped with accessible and controllable warheads outside the atmosphere’.
Video released by state television showed several missiles being launched in a deserted area by four of the unmanned, triangle-shaped drones fly in a tight shape.
Another view showed the drones invading Iranian targets described as ‘hypothetical enemy bases’ and melting.
One target appeared to be a missile vehicle – a reported target in an area where American forces and their Gulf Arab allies rely on Patriot missile batteries for defense.
Looking at the frame-by-frame pictures, it looked like there were two lumps on each side of the drone in the shape of a triangle.
This is strongly similar to the so-called ‘Delta’ drones in both the Abqaiq and Khurais attack in September 2019, as well as the May 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West emergency pipeline.
Named after the great prophet 15, Friday’s drill revealed a ‘new generation’ of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, according to Guard’s Sepah news website
Iran has launched missiles and a drone drill on Friday in the country’s third military exercise in less than two weeks, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Group confirmed on their website
The drill involved a drone attack on a missile defense system and was followed by a ‘barrage of Zolfaghar, Zelzal and Dezful class ballistic missiles,’ the Sepah Guards news site reported
Saudi Arabia showed damaged drones to reporters after the attacks, while DA experts included images of the drone in a report.
Experts refer to such drones that carry bombs as ‘loitering munitions.’ The drone flies to a destination, possibly programmed before it flies, and either explodes in the air over the target or hits it against it.
Photos from the drills on Friday showed Guard Guardsman Hossein Salami and force aerospace chief Amirali Hajizadeh present at the drill.
The message of this drill was our power and determination to defend our sovereignty, our sacred system and our values against the enemies of Islam and Iran, ’Salami said.
Hajizadeh said the work demonstrated the ‘new power’ and capabilities of the Guards.
The drill follows an Iranian naval exercise held Wednesday and Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, and an army drone drill on 5 and 6 January.
Tehran also seized a South Korean oil tanker and began enriching uranium closer to weapons level, as the U.S. sent B-52 bombers, a USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine into the region. as a deterrent in Trump’s last days as president.
Guard leader Hossein Salami (pictured), who was present at the drills, said: ‘The message of this drill was our determined power and will to defend our sovereignty, our holy system and our values against the enemies of Islam and Iran ‘
The drill comes at a time of higher tensions with the United States in the final days of President Donald Trump’s administration. Pictured: Tool used in the drills
‘The nuclear issue is likely to be the Biden administration’s first foreign policy test,’ wrote Simon Henderson, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy.
‘Ultimately, the United States holds the best hand, but Iran may be able to play the game well, even with a weak hand.’
Iran’s military exercises began two days after Iran marked the first anniversary of the assassination of IRGC honorary leader Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq last January.
Soleimani’s assassination came against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s ‘most pressing’ policy towards Iran, which saw the U.S. pull out of an important 2015 nuclear deal and impose harsh sanctions on Iran.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who was Vice President under Barack Obama when the nuclear deal was signed, has vowed to return to the agreement.
Biden is set to succeed Trump on Jan. 20 and is expected to take a less attractive approach to Iran.
The IRGC conducts’ Great Prophet ‘military exercises separate from Iran’ s national armed forces, with the Great Prophet 1 launching in 2006.
Analysts say the IRGC drills are often used as a demonstration of strength and as a deterrent to Iran’s regional and international enemies.
Iran’s missile range is at a 2,000-kilometer (1,250-mile) range, long enough to reach Israeli archenemy and U.S. military bases in the region.