IRGC’s Quds Force chief hails successful drone operation over occupied territories

The head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has hailed a successful operation by two unidentified drones over the Israeli-occupied territories, which the usurping Tel Aviv regime tried to keep secret.

Brigadier General Esmail Qa’ani was giving a speech in the northeastern city of Mashhad in commemoration of the International Quds Day on the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Qa’ani said the successful operation was conducted several months ago.

During the operation, he said, the “Zionist entity sent 41 fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft to intercept the two drones but they failed.”

The IRGC official stressed that the drone operation put Israel on “high alert,” but the Zionist regime “did not disclose the truth of what happened,” and then lied to its people by claiming to have conducted surprise drills.

“The regime was not man enough to tell the truth about the drone operation, where the drones came from, who they belonged to and what they were supposed to do,” Qa’ani said. “They lied to their own people; they said they were conducting drills.”

Throughout the years, Iran has managed to make substantial progress in its military sector. The Islamic Republic has succeeded in domestically producing missiles, drones, aircraft, tanks, submarines, and other military hardware.

In September 2021, Israel’s minister of military affairs acknowledged Iran’s drone power, saying the Islamic Republic is in possession of “accurate” and “destructive” drones that can cross thousands of kilometers.

“One of the most significant tools that Iran has developed is its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” Benny Gantz said. “We are talking about highly accurate and destructive drones. These drones, like ballistic missiles or jet fighters, can travel thousands of kilometers."

In an article published in July the same year, the Ha’aretz newspaper said, “Tehran’s growing use of drones reflects an old Iranian ethos of combining technological progress with self-reliance.”

Israel admits to Iran’s drone power, says ‘deadly’ UAVs can cross ‘thousands of kilometers’

Israel’s minister for military affairs says Iran is in possession of “accurate” and “destructive” drones that can cross thousands of kilometers.

Elsewhere in his speech on Friday, Qa’ani said the glorious Quds Day commemoration would continue until all the Zionists were eliminated and that the resistance front would day by day become stronger more than ever before until the demise of the occupying regime.

“It is better for the Zionists to return to their original homelands in Europe or any other place from which they came before it is too late," Qa’ani said. “Israel is heading towards extinction.”

The International Quds Day is among the legacies of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, who is revered as a spiritual leader by Muslims across the world. Back in 1979, shortly after leading an Islamic Revolution which toppled the US-backed Shah of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini named the last Friday of Ramadan Quds Day.

Thousands of people take to the streets across the world each year during the occasion in support of the Palestinian cause of liberation from Israeli aggression and occupation.

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