Iran Scoffs at Israel Defenses after Hizbullah Drone Flight
Iran on Sunday scoffed at Israel's air defenses as it confirmed Tehran had provided Hizbullah with the sophisticated drone which overflew the Jewish state earlier this month.
Iran's "capabilities are very high and are at the disposal and service of Islamic nations," Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi said, quoted by state television when questioned on the origins of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
"It is natural to use whatever we have at our disposal at the necessary time to defend the lands of the Islamic world," the general said. "This move shows that Hizbullah is fully prepared ... and will respond to the Zionist regime."
He said the drone which overflew Israel "shattered everything that was said about the Iron Dome system (Israel's air defense shield) and it became clear that the Zionist regime can not escape Muslim anger."
Iran has developed a program of manufacturing drones to be used for surveillance and attacks.
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah boasted last week that his group sent a sophisticated unmanned drone over Israel, saying the device was built by the Jewish state's arch-foe Iran.
His acknowledgment of the drone which Israel shot down on October 6 came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed at Hizbullah and vowed to defend his country against further "threats."
Nasrallah said the latest drone was "Iranian built and assembled in Lebanon."
Israeli Air force jets shot down the unarmed drone over southern Israel's Negev desert after it entered the country's airspace from the Mediterranean Sea.
"A sophisticated reconnaissance aircraft was sent from Lebanese territory ... and traveled hundreds of kilometers (miles) over the sea before crossing enemy lines and into occupied Palestine," Nasrallah said on television.
"It overflew sensitive and important installations for dozens of kilometers until the enemy spotted it near (the nuclear site) Dimona," Nasrallah added. He did not identify the installations.
Nasrallah insisted that "possession of such an aerial capacity is a first in the history of any resistance movement in Lebanon and the region."
"It's not the first time (that a drone was sent) and it will not be the last. We can reach all the zones" of Israel, said Nasrallah, referring to a less sophisticated drone sent by Hizbullah during its 2006 war against Israel.
Source: Agence France Presse
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