'Proxy terrorism': Israel accuses Iran of training foreign terrorists on drone usage

Launching a scathing attack on its regional enemy, Israel on Sunday accused Iran of giving drone training to foreign militias at an airbase near the city of Isfahan. In what his office termed as a new disclosure, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said that Tehran was using Kashan airbase to train “terror operatives" from Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon in flying Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Lambasting its adversary, the zionist leader said that the airbase was “a linchpin of the Iranian effort to export aerial terror to the region.”

Addressing pupils at Reichman University in the Tel Aviv district, Gantz buttressed his stance and said that Iran was not only guiding the terror operatives on the usage of UAVs but also teaching them how to manufacture the devices. “(Iran is trying to) transfer know-how that would allow the manufacturing of UAVs in the Gaza Strip,” he said. Notably, the besieged Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas, a militant organisation that, in May, engaged in a bloody 11-day conflict with Israel. Later, the Israel Defence Ministry released satellite images of the Kashan Airbase which showed UAVs on runways across the Kashan airbase. 

Credit: International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at IDC Herzliya

'Target Iran's terrorism'

“Iran has created ‘proxy terrorism,’ under which it formed organized terror armies that help it achieve its economic, diplomatic and military goals,” Gantz said. “One of the significant tools that Iran has developed to assist its proxies is an array of unmanned aerial vehicles that can travel thousands of kilometres, and thousands of them are spread throughout Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon,” he said. 

Gantz’s statement comes at a time when the Islamic Republic is already under international scrutiny for its alleged role in attacking an Israeli managed tanker last month. In July, Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged Japanese-owned vessel, was targeted whilst it was on its way from Tanzania to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The attack led to the death of two crew members and an allegation on Iran from Israel’s newly formed government. Israel and Iran have been engaged in a shadow war for decades and have blamed each other for killing officials by launching explosions. While Israel has accused Iran of perpetuating terrorism and flouting nuclear guidelines, Tehran has accused the Jewish leadership of being the regional bully and killing its top nuclear scientist.   

Image: AP /Unspalsh/Representative