Iran tests air defense near nuclear facility

Iran's military showcased its air defence weaponry in demonstration exercises.

Missiles and radars were on display at the drills in the southern province of Isfahan.

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, said it was necessary to test the weapons systems in an environment close to that of a real-world scenario.

In October 2024, Israeli air forces successfully struck targets inside Iran. Israel claimed scores of its jets had penetrated Iranian air space to strike targets inside the country.

The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says various real-world scenarios were designed and implemented during a large-scale military exercise to protect the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran’s central province of Isfahan.

“We tried to perform what we expected the enemies would do in real-world conditions in the form of preplanned scenarios during the Eghtedar (Authority) 1403 war game. Fortunately, encouraging results and fairly valuable achievements were obtained,” Major General Hossein Salami said.

He added that the Iranian Armed Forces have made impressive progress in the field of air defense over the past few months.

“Since this domain of our defense capabilities is among the most determining spheres, it was necessary to once again exhibit the capabilities of air defense systems in a nearly real-world and very precise situation,” Salami pointed out.

The IRGC has not provided much information about the specifications of the air defense system, codenamed 358, which launches drone-based missiles.

Short-range air defense systems, such as Dezful and Tor-M1, could detonate drones and cruise missiles at low altitudes.

Iranian forces also activated the Dey-9 air defense missile system to practice interception of a bunker buster dropped from a warplane.

The homegrown air defense system could track, intercept and destroy the heavy weapon in less than 15 seconds at a distance of 17 kilometers away from the nuclear site.