Iran says cities are being prepared for foreign attacks

Civil defence systems deployed in 51 cities to 'identify and monitor threats'

Iran's Bavar 373 air defence missile system is displayed during a ceremony in Tehran on August 22, 2019. Iranian Presidency / AFP

Iran has equipped 51 of its cities with civil defence systems and boosted readiness of its air defences to thwart any possible foreign attack, military officials said amid an escalation of tensions with Israel and the United States.

The civil defence equipment will enable Iran to “identify and monitor threats by using round-the-clock software according to the type of the threat and risk”, Deputy Defence Minister Brig Gen Mehdi Farahi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

"These days, depending on the strength of countries, the form of battles has become more complicated,” said Brig Gen Farahi.

He said hybrid forms of warfare including cyber, biological and radioactive attacks, has replaced classical wars. He did not name the countries that could threaten Iran.

Meanwhile, the commander of Iran's air defence headquarters, Brig Gen Qader Rahimzadeh, said his forces were at their highest level of preparedness.

"The country's air space today is the safest for licensed flights and the most insecure for would-be aggressors," he was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Iran has accused Israel and the US of cyber attacks in recent years that have impaired the country's infrastructure. Iran has also accused Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, of sabotaging its nuclear facilities.

A photo of the blast site from June 21, 2020, several days before the explosion, taken by the European Commission's Sentinel-2 satellite. European Commission via AP

A June 26, 2020 photo from the European Commission's Sentinel-2 satellite shows the site of an explosion that appears to have charred hundreds of meters of scrubland. European Commission via AP

US-Iran military tensions have also long dogged the region. In the latest incident, Iran seized US military sail drones in the Red Sea earlier this week, even as both countries continue negotiations to revive a deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear programme.

On Tuesday, the US Navy said it foiled an attempt by Iran's Revolutionary Guard naval forces to capture an unmanned surface vessel operated by the US 5th Fleet in the Gulf. Iran said the drone was a danger to maritime traffic.

Separately, state media said security forces in northern Iran arrested 12 followers of the banned Bahai faith.

Iran considers the Bahai faith a heretical offshoot of Islam and accuses its followers of ties to Israel because a main Bahai shrine, built more than a century ago, is located in Israel.

Rights groups have denounced a clampdown on the religious minority in recent months, with dozens of arrests and the destruction of homes.

Bahais say hundreds of their faith have been jailed and executed since Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979. The government denies it has detained or executed people for their faith.