The commander of Iran's Army Ground Forces said his country now has a drone capable of reaching two of Israel's largest cities.
Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari said the Arash 2 drone specifically was designed to attack Haifa and Tel Aviv, the Iran's Mehr News Agency reported. He added that the military was awaiting orders to start using the drones.
"Today, we have drones with a strategic range and also a drone with a range of 2,000 kilometers [1,243 miles]," Heidari said. "Of course, we also have drones with lower ranges in our stockpiles."
Tel Aviv and Haifa each is located less than 1,200 miles from Tehran.
Heidari said the Arash 2 includes a spotter that enables it to precisely hit its target.
The state-owned news agency added that the drone is equipped with search systems in addition to other unique capabilities that allow it to recover itself several times until it hits the target.
Speaking Sunday night on Iranian television, Heidari also spoke of Shafaq missiles, which joined the Arash 2 drones in being tested last week during a two-day drill in central Iran.
The Shafaq missile, which is loaded on combat helicopters, is equipped with a professional camera and has the "fire and forget" capability — the pilot can change direction immediately after firing, the news agency report said.
Iran's new weapons were highlighted as the country's leaders consider entering a new nuclear deal.
A new deal would unfreeze millions in assets that Iran is expected to use to bolster its regional terror operations and missile arrays, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
It was reported last week that Israel and the U.S. this summer conducted a joint simulation training exercise as part of continuing efforts to protect Israel from ballistic threats.
An Israeli official said Sunday that his nation does not anticipate a renewal of the nuclear deal before the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Having supported then-President Donald Trump's withdrawal from a 2015 Iranian nuclear deal which it deemed too limited, Israel has similarly been advocating against the reentry sought by the current U.S. administration.
On Saturday, Britain, France, and Germany said they had "serious doubts" about Iran's intentions after it tried to link a revival of the deal with a closure of U.N. watchdog probes into uranium traces at three of its nuclear sites.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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