Iran unveils first drone carrier fleet

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran unveiled its first fleet of naval vessels capable of carrying combat drones on Friday, as US President Joe Biden continues his Middle East tour.

The Iranian navy unveiled their latest up-to-date technological achievements in the field of combat, consisting of ships, submarines, and drones, equipped to provide a response in case “a mistake is made by the enemies” of Iran, according to the Commander-in-chief of the Iranian army Abdolrahim Mousavi, who was present during the ceremony.

Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a strategic declaration on Thursday, pledging to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Prior to Biden’s visit to Tel Aviv, AFP reported that the Israeli army will introduce the American president to their newest technological invention, anti-drone lasers, which they deemed “essential to confronting Iran.”

The US president will continue his four-day trip to the Middle East, as he is set to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Friday and attend a summit with some of the region’s leaders the day after.

“Today, we witnessed the accomplishment of new achievements in the field of defense industry by the expert and committed youth of our country, which this time was manifested in the very important field of drones,” state media cited Shahram Irani, commander of Iran’s strategic naval forces as saying.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Friday tweeted that Iran will not compromise its rights in the negotiations with the US to revive the nuclear deal, adding that “the puppet show of the White House and Zionism [Israel] in the region makes us more determined.”

Washington and Tehran have held talks for over a year aimed at reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which former US President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018, but have not yielded much result.

Iran insists that the US removes its sanctions on the country, including those on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Washington has listed as a terror group.