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Pentagon Combines Sea Drones, AI To Police Gulf Region

International Business Times

Iran's recent seizure of unmanned US Navy boats shined a light on a pioneering Pentagon program to develop networks of air, surface and underwater drones for patrolling large regions, meshing their surveillance with artificial intelligence. The year-old program operates numerous unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the waters around the Arabian peninsula, gathering data and images to be beamed back to collection centers in the Gulf. The program operated without incident until Iranian forces tried to grab three seven-meter Saildrone Explorer USVs in two incidents, on August 29-30 and September 1. In the first, a ship of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hooked a line to a Saildrone in the Gulf and began towing it away, only releasing it when a US Navy Patrol boat and helicopter sped to the scene. In the second, an Iranian destroyer picked up two Saildrones in the Red Sea, hoisting them aboard.


Iran delivers European 'peace initiative' on Ukraine to Russia

Al Jazeera

Tehran, Iran โ€“ Iran has delivered a so-called "peace initiative" for ending the Ukraine war, proposed by a European leader, to Russia. Standing next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian confirmed that he had handed over the European proposal that he said was given to Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi. "There are ideas to help establish peace and stop the fighting in Ukraine, and I shared these ideas with Mr Lavrov," Amirabdollahian said. He did not name the European leader behind the initiative or reveal any further details but said the proposal includes points on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and prisoners of war. Recent shelling around the plant in southeastern Ukraine has spurred fears of a possible nuclear disaster and prompted the International Atomic Energy Agency to deploy experts to visit the site.


Navy stops Iran from taking US military drone in Arabian Gulf

FOX News

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. The U.S. Navy stopped an Iranian ship from taking an American sea drone in the Arabian Gulf Monday night. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy was in the process of towing the drone, which belongs to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet at 11 p.m. local time when the American Navy immediately sent out the nearby Navy coastal ship USS Thunderbolt. The 5th Fleet also repeatedly called Iranian officials, who then let the drone go.


The First Shipment of Iranian Military Drones Arrives in Russia

NYT > Middle East

The Mohajer-6 has the capability to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and the Shahed series is considered among the most capable of Iran's military drones, according to comments made by the Iranian military to local news media. Iran is a pioneer in drone technology, with at least four decades of design and manufacturing experience, and it has been providing combat drones to military groups and proxy militia in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. Officials in Israel, the United States and some Sunni Arab countries like Saudi Arabia have said they are increasingly concerned that Iran's advancing drone technology could destabilize the region and empower militias backed by Iran. In the shadow war between Iran and Israel, Iranian drones have been involved in attacks on ships and have targeted U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria. Israel has also attacked a secret facility in western Iran where hundreds of drones were believed to have been stored.


Iran To Supply Russians With UAVs For Ukraine: White House

International Business Times

Iran is planning to supply hundreds of drones with combat weapon capabilities to Russia for use in Ukraine, a top US official said Monday. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security advisor, said the information received by the United States supported views that the Russian military is facing challenges sustaining its weaponry after significant losses in Ukraine. "The Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline," Sullivan told reporters. "Our information further indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these UAVs, with initial training sessions slated to begin as soon as early July," he said. Sullivan said it was not clear whether Iran had delivered any of the drones to Russia yet.


Sensitive Iranian Military Site Was Targeted in Attack

NYT > Middle East

In early February, Israel sent six quadcopter drones containing explosives into a facility near the city of Kermanshah that was Iran's main manufacturing and storage plant for military drones, according to a senior intelligence official briefed on the operation. That Israeli attack destroyed dozens of Iran's drones. Iran retaliated by firing ballistic missiles at a housing complex in northern Iraq that it said had been used by Israeli agents to plot attacks against Iran. In June 2021, another attack using a quadcopter drone -- which explodes on impact -- was also launched from within the country. It struck the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, or TESA, in the city of Karaj.


Woman charged with attempted murder of boyfriend over US killing Soleimani

FOX News

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. A woman stabbed her date whom she had met online in retaliation for the 2020 death of an Iranian military leader killed in an American drone strike, police said.Nika Nika Nikoubin is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing March 24. Nika Nikoubin, 21, has been charged with attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and burglary, KLAS-TV reported. Nikoubin and the man met online on a dating website, Henderson police wrote in an arrest report.


Iran claims responsibility for missile barrage near US consulate in Iraq

FOX News

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Iran claimed responsibility Sunday for a missile barrage that struck near a sprawling U.S. consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, saying it was retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard earlier this week. No injuries were reported in Sunday's attack on the city of Irbil, which marked a significant escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Hostility between the longtime foes has often played out in Iraq, whose government is allied with both countries.


Iran regime's 'Death to America' wrestling head cancels match with US team after visa denial

FOX News

President Biden seeks to reenter the Iran nuclear agreement to limit the creation of enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons. In a letter sent to the president of USA Wrestling, Bruce Baumgartner, Iranian wrestler Alireza Dabir wrote, "I am very sorry to announce that the national wrestling team of the Islamic Republic of Iran, due to not granting visas to 6 members of this team, is not able to participate in a friendly match with the U.S. national team." Fox News Digital broke the story in January that Dabir, who obtained a U.S. residency green card, urged the violent destruction of America during an event celebrating the life and work of the U.S.-designated terrorist Qassem Soleimani. Soleimani led the Quds Force, a division of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated terrorist entity that has been responsible for killing more than 600 American military personnel. He died in a targeted killing in January 2020, slain by an American drone strike in Baghdad.


Iran Vows Revenge Unless Trump Tried For Soleimani Killing

International Business Times

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge against Donald Trump unless the former US president is tried over the killing of Qassem Soleimani, as Tehran marked two years since the revered commander's death. The Islamic republic and its allies across the Middle East held emotional commemorations for General Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant who were assassinated in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020. Tehran's arch enemies were targeted on the day of the anniversary in unclaimed drone and cyber attacks -- with two armed unmanned aerial vehicles intercepted by the US-led coalition in Iraq over Baghdad airport, and hackers attacking Israeli media sites. Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, with links to armed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Yemen. Raisi, addressing Tehran's largest prayer hall, said: "The aggressor and the main assassin, the then president of the United States, must face justice and retribution" alongside former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo "and other criminals".