On Thursday Pakistan launched air strikes against what it said were separatist militants inside Iran in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.
The tit-for-tat strikes were the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm over wider instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.
“Iranian forces have successfully launched a new air defense method that uses drones to intercept and target hostile targets,” state-run Press TV quoted an Iranian army spokesman as saying.
Expansive drills
The two-day drills, which began on Thursday, cover an area from Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan province to Chahbahar in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. READ MORE