Exclusive: Israeli Source Says Iran Boosting Drone Deliveries To Proxies
An Israeli source has told Iran International that Iran plans to make drone strikes the focus of its offensive activities across the region in the near future.
An Israeli source has told Iran International that Iran plans to make drone strikes the focus of its offensive activities across the region in the near future.
The source, who did not want to be named, said in an exclusive interview that in recent months Iran’s Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has been increasing delivery of drones to its proxies in the region and beyond.
He noted that now Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon have received these drones, adding that they were also sold to Venezuela.
Iranian proxies have begun using drones in attacks in Iraq and Syria in recent months. In early November, the residence of Iraq’s prime minister was the target of a drone attack, believed to have been launched by pro-Iran militias upset with losing in Iraq’s parliamentary elections.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement said in November it had fired 14 drones at several Saudi cities, including at Saudi Aramco facilities in Jeddah.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, US CENTCOM commander expressed concern in an Associated Press interviewpublished two weeks ago over the growing capabilities of Iran’s missiles and drones.
He said that Iran started the mass production and delivery of drones following failures and frustration in smuggling missiles and heavy weapons to its supporters in the Middle East.
Among other reasons for this change of strategy are the lower price and higher destruction power of drones, he underlined, adding that since drones can hit their target after many detours, it is difficult to detect from where they set off so the Islamic Republic can simply deny its role in the attacks.
He said that almost all of IRGC’s different types of drones were reverse-engineered and assembled from downed US-made drones in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and elsewhere, as well as from Israeli-made models. For example, Iran’s Shahed 129 drone is modeled after an Israeli Hermes drone that Iran shot down near the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
Iran has other Shahed drones, including the 191 and 171 which are copies of the US RQ-170, a flying wing design, or the Shahed 125 that is a copy of the US Shadow. Iran has armed the 123, 129 and 191 with missiles.
According to the source, the drones are trafficked by the Unit 190 of the IRGC’s Qods (Quds) force under the direct supervision of Amirali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Aerospace Force.
This month bills were introduced in the US Congress to ban assistance to Iran’s military drones. The bill seek to amend the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to include any action that seeks to advance the program as sanctionable under US law.
Amirali Hajizadeh, Commander of Iran’s Aerospace Force, made the comment on the last day of military drills that began on Monday, saying that hundreds of billions of dollars “the enemy” has spent on defense against ballistic missiles have been wasted.
A ballistic missile has a pre-determined trajectory and target, with a guidance system that can adjust course just to ensure it impacts as close as possible to the pre-determined target. But Hajizadeh said Iranian missiles “can maneuver” and make interception virtually impossible.
On the last day of the large-scale military exercise, codenamed The Great Prophet 17, Iran launched 16 ballistic missiles of different classes simultaneously while 10 of the Aerospace Force’s offensive drones also launched a simultaneous operation and destroyed the designated targets, the military said.
During the drills, which took place on the coastlines of the southern provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr, and Khuzestan, Iran also unveiled ‘suicide’ and reconnaissance drones as new components of its Ground Force.
The main targets of Iran's long-range ballistic missiles are Israel, possibly US bases in the Middle East and vital oil installations. Israel has one of the world's most concentrated missile defense systems, known as the Iron Dome. US bases are also defended by Patriot and other missile defense systems.
The IRGC chief commander Major General Hossein Salami said on Friday that the drills carried a stark warning to “threats made by the Zionist regime’s officials that they need to be careful not making mistakes, and if they do, we will cut off their hands”.
Chairman of the chiefs of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces noted that although the maneuver was planned before, it was an appropriate response to the recent threats by Israel.
"These exercises were designed to respond to threats made in recent days by the Zionist regime," Major General Mohammad Baqeri said.
Israel has long threatened military action against Iran, and recently reportedly allocated $1.5 billion for an attack if Iran gets dangerously close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The escalation comes as world powers have been discussing the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel has opposed.
Only hours after the war games ended, Britain condemned the launch of ballistic missiles by the Islamic Republic.
"These actions are a threat to regional and international security and we call on Iran to immediately cease its activities," the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.
A State Department spokesman on Wednesday [Dec. 22} had confirmed to Iran International that Hassan Irloo, the Iran envoy with Houthis who was evacuated from Sanaa earlier and died shortly after was a senior member of the Revolutionary Guard, but had not clarified if he was a person wanted by the United States.
On Thursday however, the State Department confirmed to Iran International that Irloo was not general Shalaei, a mysterious figure sought by the US, with a $15 million reward on his head.
The Iranian government's official news agency IRNA in a Tuesday report on Irloo's death had said that "he was also known as General Shahlaei", raising suspicion about his identity and mission in Yemen.
Later in the evening, however, the agency had deleted the reference to Shahlaei – aka Hajj Yusef and Yusuf Abu-al-Karkh -- who is an IRGC’s Qods (Quds) Force commander classified by the US government as a terrorist.
When asked if Irloo is the same person as Shahlaei on Wednesday, the spokesperson had not given a clear answer but said that "the reward for Abdul Reza Shahlaei still stands." Subsequently on Thursday, the State Department said that the two individuals were indeed different people.
On the third of January 2020, the night when the United States killed the head of the Qods Force Qasem Soleimani, the US military attempted to also assassinate Shahlaei via a drone strike. The drone strike in Sana'a, where Shahlaei was said to be based, failed to kill him but did lead to the death of a lower-ranking IRGC member Mohammad Mirza.
It remains a possibility that the IRNA statement saying Irloo and Shalaei were the same people could have been a diversionary move to throw others off Shalaei's tracks.
One thing remains clear that Irloo (Irlu or Irlou) himself was a senior IRGC operator who spent years on secret missions with militant groups throughout the region and was sent to Yemen as "ambassador" in Sanaa, controlled by Iran-aligned Houuthis.
Irloo's importance and staure cannot be underestimated. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ali Khamenei issued a message of condolence Wednesday over Irloo’s death, describing him as an “efficient envoy” with a track record of” political struggle, diplomatic endeavors, and social activism”.
On Thursday, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri called Irloo a martyr of the Islamic Revolution who dedicated his life to the resistance axis in the region.
The title shahid (martyr) is usually reserved for those killed in battle and 'resistance' is a term the Islamic Republic uses to describe its allies and proxies in the region.
At Irloo's funeral ceremony Wednesday, deputy commander of the IRGC, Ali Fadavi, also named him as a “fighter in the resistance front" and accused the US and its allies of delaying Irlou’s evacuation from Sanaa and his death.
Even before reportedly catching COVID-19, he was already suffering from respiratory problems sustained in chemical attacks during the Iran-Iraq war.
The Wall Street Journal in a report last week claimed that Houthis had asked Tehran to remove Irloo from Sanaa. Both Iran and the Houthi leadership denied the report, insisting that the ambassador suffered from Covid and needed to receive medical attention in Iran.
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This report has been updated with new information.
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Suspicions about the Iranian ambassador's real identity rose to new heights Tuesday after in its obituary, the official news agency (IRNA) said ambassador Hassan Irloo "was also known as General Shahlaei" but later in the evening removed the reference to Shahlaei from its website.
General [Abdolreza] Shahlaei is a mysterious figure never shown in photos in the Iranian media.
Hasan Irloo (Irlu), Iran’s ambassador with Houthi rebels, died Tuesday at aged 63, two days after his repatriation from Yemen on an Iraqi plane in coordination with Saudi Arabia that maintains an air blockade over Yemeni territories controlled by Iran-aligned Houthis. Iran insists he was evacuated from Yemen because he was suffered from Covid-19, but he could not be saved.
"He was one of the commanders of resistance and his pivotal role alongside martyr Ghasem Soleimani in forcing the US out of Iraq (during Obama’s first term) as well as in the expulsion of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from Iraq are among his unforgettable feats," IRNA wrote in the obituary which referred to Irloo as a martyr.
The title shahid (martyr) is usually reserved for those killed in battle and 'resistance' is a term the Islamic Republic uses to describe its allies and proxies in the region.
At Irloo's funeral ceremony Wednesday, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Ali Fadavi, also named him as a “fighter in the resistance front" and accused the US and its allies of delaying Irloo’s evacuation from Sanaa and his death.
Irloo was appointed as Iran's ambassador to the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in October where he presented his credentials to Houthi Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf but how he arrived in Yemen despite the blockade remained a mystery.
The Wall Street Journal in a report last week claimed that Houthis had asked Tehran to remove Irloo from Sanaa. Both Iran and the Houthi leadership denied the report, insisting that the ambassador suffered from Covid and needed to receive medical attention in Iran.
The US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet October 21 that Irloo was an IRGC member tied to the Lebanese Hezbollah who had been "smuggled" into Yemen "under the guise of ambassador to the Houthi militia".
In December 2019, the US Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, announced that the State Department was offering a $15 million reward for information on an Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Commander in Yemen known as Abdul-Reza Shahlaei for his financial activities, networks, and associates. "We remain gravely concerned by his presence in Yemen and potential role in providing advanced weaponry of the kind that we have interdicted to the Houthis," Hook said.
The US Treasury Department in 2011 had accused Shahlaei of coordinating a failed plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US at a cafe in Washington. “Shahlai approved financial allotments ... to help recruit other individuals for the plot, approving $5 million as payment for all of the operations discussed.” Irloo, also a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in December 2020 due to his connections to the IRGC's Qods Force.
In January 2020, two unnamed US officials told Reuters that on January 3, 2020 when a US drone killed Qods Commander Qasem Soleimani, another US military unit was tasked with killing a second senior Qods Commander, Abdolreza Shahlai, but he escaped unscathed.
The coalition said on Wednesday it had helped get the sick ambassador out of the country before he died.
Iran said on Tuesday that Hasan Irloo (Irlu), its ambassador to Houthi-run north Yemen, had died of Covid-19 after his evacuation from Yemen, and accused Saudi Arabia of delaying his departure from the capital, Sanaa.
The coalition, which has been fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement since early 2015, said in a statement it had facilitated Irloo's repatriation and had arranged for an Iraqi medical plane to fly him from Sanaa to Basra in Iraq.
It said it began facilitating Irloo's transfer from Sanaa on humanitarian grounds, considering mediation from Oman and Iraq, within 48 hours of being informed of his health condition.
It had provided permits and logistical support for the Iraqi air force C-130 medical evacuation plane that took Irloo out, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said.
The coalition did not say in the statement what medical condition Irloo had been suffering from. He was buried in Iran on Wednesday.
Fars news agency affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard repeated Wednesday that Saudi Arabia’s “delay caused the martyrdom” of Irloo, quoting the Houthi foreign minister Hisham Sharaf.
In his funeral ceremony on Wednesday, deputy commander of the IRGC, Ali Fadavi, portrayed Irloo as a longtime “fighter in the resistance front”, a term the Islamic Republic uses to describe its allies and proxies in the region. He accused the United States and “its allies” of delaying Irloo’s evacuation, saying that when he was finally brought to Iran he had been suffering from Covid “for a long time”.
Last week controversy ensued after a Wall Street Journal report said that the Houthis had asked Iran to withdraw Irloo. Both Iran and the Houthi leadership denied the report, insisting that the ambassador suffered from Covid and needed to receive medical attention in Iran.
But speculations on Iranian social media continued that Irloo had been perhaps killed or injured in Yemen and both Tehran and Riyadh preferred to say he was evacuated for medical reasons. Saudi Arabia has been conducting a fierce air campaign on suspected military and Iran-related targets in and around Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia and Iran, the region's Sunni Muslim and Shi'ite powerhouses, are bitter rivals but they launched direct talks this year as global powers try to salvage a nuclear pact with Iran and as UN-led efforts to end the Yemen war have stalled.
The bilateral talks have not resulted in any breakthrough, Iran said on Sunday. The two countries severed diplomatic ties in January 2016, after mobs in Iran attacked and ransacked Saudi diplomatic missions.
Last December, the US Treasury blacklisted Irloo and described him as an official of Iran's elite Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and a pillar of Iranian efforts to project power in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere.
Two Yemeni political sources and a foreign source have said Irloo had recently kept a low profile due to illness and political tension.
With reporting by Reuters