Drones in Iran’s possession to be put on display

TEHRAN TIMES – Iran plans to put foreign spy drones it has in its possession on display in the near future, according to an informed source close to the Tehran Times.

National reporters and foreign ambassadors based in Tehran will be allowed to visit the exhibition.

The report was also published on the website of Nasim news agency.

The latest domestically manufactured electronic warfare equipment will also be put on show at the exhibition.

According to the source close to the Tehran Times, the foreign unmanned aircraft that Iran has are four Israeli and three U.S. drones.

The most advanced spy drone in Iran’s possession, which was recently downed, is RQ-170 unmanned U.S. plane, which the Islamic Republic announced on December 4 had been brought down by the country’s armed forces.

The first video footage of the RQ-170 Sentinel, nick-named the Beast of Kandahar, was broadcast on Iranian television on December 8.

The drone had entered Iran from the eastern neighboring country of Afghanistan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in a recent exclusive interview with Fox News, said that the stealth drone campaign along the Iran-Afghanistan border will “absolutely” continue.

The interview was published on December 13.

A number of countries have reportedly asked for permission to inspect the aircraft.

According to the source, the four Israeli drones that are now in Iran’s possession had violated the country’s airspace along the eastern borders, and the three U.S. unmanned aircraft had penetrated into the country’s airspace along either the eastern or southern border.

In an interview published on January 2, 2011, the commander of the Aerospace Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, announced that the Iranian military forces had brought down two foreign spy planes over the Persian Gulf, not mentioning the exact date and location of the events.

“They (the Westerners) have made limited aggressions against the country and we have shot down a number of their highly advanced spy planes so far. For example, we have brought down two spy planes over the Persian Gulf,” Hajizadeh said at the time.

“We have constant clashes with the enemy’s surveillance and reconnaissance aircrafts,” Hajizadeh stated, adding that the Iranian experts had reverse engineered and manufactured some of the planes that had been shot down.

In addition, Hajizadeh announced on June 28, 2011 that Russian experts had inspected the two foreign spy planes, which he said belonged to the United States.

Hajizadeh said at the time that Russian experts had requested Iran to inspect the places where the planes were shot down.