Iran unveils new drone, missile amid rising tensions

Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile and an upgraded one-way attack drone at a military parade on Saturday, state media said, amid soaring regional tensions and allegations of arming Russia.

Iran stands accused by Western governments of supplying both drones and missiles to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, a charge it has repeatedly denied.

The solid-fuel Jihad missile was designed and manufactured by the aerospace arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and has an operational range of 1,000 kilometres (more than 600 miles), state news agency IRNA said.

The Shahed-136B drone is an upgraded version of the Shahed-136, with new features and an operational range of more than 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles), it added.

New President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the annual parade in Tehran, commemorating the 1980–88 war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

"Today, our defensive and deterrent capabilities have grown so much that no demon even thinks about any aggression towards our dear Iran," he said.

"With unity and cohesion among Islamic countries… we can put in its place the bloodthirsty, genocidal usurper Israel, which shows no mercy to anyone, women or children, old or young."

The Middle East has been in turmoil since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023, drawing in Iranian allies around the region.

The tensions have intensified in recent days as the focus of Israel's firepower has shifted north to the Lebanon border where its troops have been battling Hezbollah.

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on Beirut rose to 31 Saturday, Lebanon's health minister said, with three children among those killed.

"The toll has risen to 31 dead," Firass Abiad said, "among them three children and seven women".

Friday's Israeli strike killed 16 Hezbollah members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and another top commander, Ahmed Wahbi.

Britain, France, Germany, and the United States slapped new sanctions on Iran earlier this month, alleging that it had been providing ballistic missiles for Russia's war effort in Ukraine.

(AFP, Reuters)