<div><b><br></b></div><div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Iran has reinforced its air defence capabilities by adding combat drones equipped with air-to-air missiles to its arsenal, state media reported today.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>“Dozens of Karrar drones armed with air-to-air missiles have been added for air defence in all border areas of the country,” the official IRNA news agency said.</div><div><br></div><div>The drones, with an operational range of up to 1,000km, were exhibited this morning during a televised ceremony organised at a military academy in Tehran.</div><div><br></div><div>“The enemies will now have to rethink their strategies” because the Iranian forces have “become more powerful”, IRNA quoted the commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, General Abdolrahim Mousavi, as saying.</div><div><br></div><div>The Karrar interceptor drones, the first version of which was unveiled in 2010, were equipped with a “Majid” thermal missile with a range of 8km “made entirely in Iran”, added the agency.</div><div><br></div><div>It “succeeded in its operational tests” during military exercises held in October, Mousavi said.</div><div><br></div><div>The development of Iran’s military arsenal has sparked concern among many countries, particularly the US and Israel, the sworn enemies of the Islamic Republic.</div><div><br></div><div>The latter accuse Tehran of providing fleets of drones to its allies in the Middle East, notably to the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, and to the Houthi rebels in Yemen.</div><div><br></div><div>Iran also backs the Palestinian group Hamas, which has been engaged in a war with Israel since it launched deadly attacks there on Oct 7.</div><div><br></div><div>Tehran has been accused by Kyiv and its Western allies of providing Russia with drones for use in the Ukraine war, a claim Tehran denies.</div><div><br></div><div>Western governments, however, imposed several rounds of biting sanctions on Iran over the alleged arms sales.</div><div><br></div><div>Iran began manufacturing drones in the 1980s during its eight-year war with Iraq. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>