In an exclusive report from Tehran, CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen gets a close-up look at the types of drones and missiles Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used in the attack on Israel last month.
Two weeks after the Middle East came to the brink of an all-out war – with Iran firing hundreds of projectiles toward Israel in retaliation for a suspected Israeli airstrike on an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus –Tehran is keen to show the world that it is capable of fighting a wider conflict should it be faced with one.
“Today, our drones and missiles have become an important factor of strength and the execution of power in the world,” IRGC General Ali Belali, himself a former missile commander during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war that ended in 1988, tells CNN.
He says Iran’s massive drone and missile barrage against Israel was a major success. “NATO, the United States and Arab countries of the region wanted to create barriers for our drones, missiles and cruise missiles, but they failed,” Belali said.
“The world was not able to stop us.” CNN was given rare access to an IRGC exhibit that showcases Tehran’s air and space capabilities, including the types of weapons that were used against Israel last month.
American media had never been allowed inside until now. One of the most prominent is the Shahed 136, a cheap “fire and forget” drone, meaning a flight path is programmed, the UAV is launched, and it then independently flies toward the target area.
While the Iranians acknowledge using dozens of Shahed drones to target Israel, both the US and Ukraine also accuse Tehran of giving hundreds to Russia, with Moscow using them to hit Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. The Iranians have consistently denied those claims.
While tensions between Iran and Israel have somewhat eased after they traded direct military blows for the first time, Belali warned that Iran has even more modern weapons at its disposal.
“The only path for them is to have logical and wise negotiations with us,” Belali tells CNN. “In our defence capabilities, we don’t depend on anyone.
We’ve had good progress in this field, and we will progress more. There are achievements that have not yet been talked about.” Continue Reading
