Iran claims regional 'drone superpower' status with underground base

State media reports existence of secret base 'hundreds of metres deep in the ground'

• 

  Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, left, Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff, and Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi, Army Commander-in-Chief, visit an underground drone base at an undisclosed location in Iran. AFP

• 

  Iranian state media revealed the existence of a drone base, said to be in the Zagros Mountains, in reports on a visit to the facility by Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, left, Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff. Reuters

• 

  The Iranian Army released photos of a wide variety of drones lined up in long tunnels. AFP

• 

  Iranian Army drones believed to be held at an underground facility in the Zagros Mountains, a range that runs 1,600 kilometres through Iran, Iraq and Turkey. AFP

• 

  An army drone at an underground drone base somewhere in Iran. AFP

• 

  An army drone at an underground drone base somewhere in Iran. Senior officers in the Iranian military say its drone force gives it regional leadership. AFP

• 

  An Iranian military drone is inspected at a secret underground site. Reuters

• 

  Iran's unmanned aircraft programme has come up with dozens of kinds of drones since the middle of the 1980s. AFP

• 

  Reminders of the Iranian Army's revolutionary heritage are seen at an underground facility when drones are stored. AFP

• 

  An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP

• 

  An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP

• 

  An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP

• 

  Iran's missile development has come along in tandem with programmes to developed military drones. AFP

• 

  Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri and Army Commander-in-Chief Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi. AFP

• 

  Photos from an underground Iranian military base show development of several drone platforms. AFP

• 

  A heavy payload for a drone at a secret underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP

• 

  Iran introduced the IAIO Fotros surveillance drone late in 2013. AFP

• 

  Iran's developing missile technology has been used by Tehran's allies around the Middle East. AFP

• 

  An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. Reuters

• 

  An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP

• 

  An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. Reuters

Iran's state media has reported the existence of an underground drone base that made the country “a drone superpower in the region”.

Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, visited the secret base on Saturday, the official Irna news agency said.

Photos accompanying the report showed Maj Gen Baqheri and army commander Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi inspecting drones in a long tunnel.

During his visit, Maj Gen Baqheri was briefed on the army’s latest capabilities in manufacturing drones including combat-ready and long-range vehicles, Irna said.

“By setting up such a secret base designed and constructed hundreds of metres deep in the ground, the Islamic Republic has turned into the drone superpower in the region,” the report said.

Iran's state TV said 100 drones were being kept in the heart of the Zagros Mountains, including the Ababil-5, which it said were fitted with Qaem-9 missiles, an Iranian-made version of air-to-surface US Hellfire.

“No doubt the drones of Islamic Republic of Iran's armed forces are the region's most powerful,” Maj Gen Mousavi said. “Our capability to upgrade drones is unstoppable.”

The state TV correspondent said he was taken blindfolded to the drone base in a 45-minute helicopter flight from Kermanshah in western Iran.

Iran has longed claimed to have underground missile bases across the country and along its coast.

The report of its drone base comes amid heightened tension in the Gulf region following Iran's taking of two Greek-flagged tankers on Friday.

Iran said its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp Navy seized the tankers for “violations in Gulf waters”. The action followed its threat earlier in the day to take “punitive action” following a US confiscation of an Iranian oil tanker in Greek waters.

Iran is said to be supplying drones to its regional proxies including Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and paramilitaries in Iraq.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz last November revealed the existence of Iranian drone bases that he said were being used to launch attacks at sea.

One is near the port of Chabahar in Iran's Sistan and Balochistan province and the other on Qeshm Island, just off the coast of the Iranian mainland, he said.

Mr Gantz had said earlier that Iran also had a drone base in Kashan, north of the city of Isfahan, that was used to train Iranian proxies.