Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard conducted a drill on Friday. In it, triangle-shaped aircraft strongly resembling those used in a 2019 attack in Saudi Arabia crashed into targets and exploded. These craft are referred to as “suicide drones,” and the United States, Saudi Arabia, and United Nations experts believe the same type drones were used in the event that temporarily cut Saudi oil production in half. (See “Saudi Strike Hits Oil Prices.”)
Iran denies the 2019 strike on the sites in Saudi Arabia. Initially, an Iranian-backed rebel group from Yemen claimed responsibility for the assault.
Back in 2019, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal Iran had made with other world powers. The President also imposed strict sanctions (limitations on trade) on Iran as well. The move was intended to force Iran to stop or slow its development of nuclear weapons.
Presently, Iran is pressuring President-elect Joe Biden to re-enter the nuclear accord. The Revolutionary Guard’s decision to deploy the drones on Friday alongside a series of missile drills may be an intimidation tactic aimed at the incoming administration. Iran has also begun enriching uranium that could reach weapons-grade levels.
“The nuclear issue is likely to be the Biden administration’s first foreign policy test,” says Simon Henderson. He is an analyst for the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy.
Iranian state television released video footage of the drone and missile drill. It showed four unmanned, triangular drones flying in tight formation. Another scene shows the drones smashing into targets which Iran describe as “hypothetical enemy bases.” The drones detonated upon impact.
Inspection of the footage frame by frame reveals that the drone used has two fins on either side. This strongly resembles the so-called “Delta” drones used both in the September 2019 Saudi Arabian attacks as well as in a May 2019 strike on a Saudi pipeline.
General Hossein Salami is the Guard’s top commander. He said in a statement that “The message of this drill is our might and firm determination to defend our sovereignty, our holy ruling system, and our values against the enemies of Islam and Iran.”
For now, God tells us in His Psalms that “the nations rage.” But the day is coming when every knee on Earth will bow to honor Him and Him alone, and peace will rule.
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the Earth.” (Revelation 11:17-18)
