“From now on, they [Americans] should worry about the Iranian suicide drones that travel up to 2,000 kilometres on top of the large cache of ballistic and guided cruise missiles,” state media said on Monday. “In the current environment in the region and the propaganda moves by the Americans, such as deploying B-52 bombers and the USS Georgia submarine, unveiling a new weapon in the range of 2,000 kilometers is a decisive and technological response to the adversaries.”
State media was referring to the “Arash” anti-radar and self-destructing drone, which was tested on Sunday as part of the army’s annual Zolfaqar-1400 drill near the mouth of the Gulf of Oman. The army claimed that the long-range drone was fired from Makran in the southeast of the country and successfully destroyed its target in Semnan near Tehran, travelling around 1,400 kilometers.
The testing of the self-destructing drone comes on the same day that three explosive-laden drones targeted the residence of Iraq’s prime minister in Baghdad, leaving seven of his guards wounded and causing outrage across the world. Security forces were deployed in large numbers on the streets of the capital in tanks and other armored vehicles as helicopters circled above on Sunday.
Washington was quick to condemn the attack and said its intent was to undermine the democratic process, a month after millions of Iraqis voted in a parliamentary election in which Iran-backed political parties made major losses. “The perpetrators of this terrorist attack on the Iraqi state must be held accountable. I condemn in the strongest terms those using violence to undermine Iraq’s democratic process,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, called the attack a “new sedition” linked to foreign think tanks.
Iranian state media published stories about how the US was behind the attack, quoting officials from Iraqi militia groups affiliated with Tehran.
The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) elite Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, was reportedly in Baghdad on Monday morning, meeting with Kadhimi, among others.
Seems like IRGC Commander Esmail Ghaani was/still is in Baghdad. He reportedly met with Kadhimi and commanders of militia groups. Is he there to tell them off for attacking the PM? It doesn’t seem like it was a direct order from Tehran. #Iraq #IRGC #Kadhimi #Iran
— Aveen Karim 🦋 (@aveeenkarim) November 8, 2021
The drone attack came two days after clashes between supporters of the Iran-backed political groups and security forces in central Baghdad in which a number of demonstrators and security forces were injured. One demonstrator was killed and militia leaders blamed Kadhimi for the death. The prime minister ordered an investigation and compensation was offered to the families of those wounded and killed.
Supporters of the Iran-backed militia groups have camped outside the Green Zone for over three weeks claiming that the October 10th vote was rigged. No evidence has been presented to show there were widespread irregularities.
Assassination attempt on PM looks more like an operation launched by Iraqi factions for their own post-election struggle than one planned by Iran. The non-strategic nature of the operation is an indicator of the poor coordination and leadership in post-Suleimani/Abu Mahdi phase.
— Maria Fantappie (@MariaFantappie) November 8, 2021
Major Iraqi parties and Kurdish leaders condemned the attack on Kadhimi, however supporters of the militia groups mocked the attack on social media calling Kadhimi a “living martyr”. Living martyr was a term given by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to IRGC’s General Qassem Soleimani who was killed in January 2020 by a US drone strike at Baghdad airport.
The attack has raised tensions in Baghdad as the political parties jockey to reach an agreement to form the next government while an increasing number of members of the security forces lose their lives fighting the Islamic State group (ISIS), which is still active in many areas of the country, carrying out guerrilla attacks.
