The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), an Iranian resistance group in exile, provided Fox News Digital with a report showing evidence of a top-secret unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) facility north of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Qom city. Ganjin region.
The report said members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) are trained at the base to use “all types of drones,” including the Mohaja series manufactured by Quds Aviation Industries. Employees of Quds Aviation Industries also reportedly used the site to allow small groups of Iranian proxy operatives in Hezbollah and members of Iranian proxies in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq to use the Mohajar 4 drone platform. He says he is training to do so.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), based on information from the MEK, told Fox News Digital that the site is a testing site for Mohajar 4, Mohajar 6, and Mohajar 10 drones.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of NCRI’s Washington, D.C. office, told Fox News Digital: “Seven months into the regional conflict, the Tehran regime is at the proverbial ‘snake’s head’ of hostilities and the export of terrorism. One thing became clear,” he said. Therefore, rather than be considerate or involved in the response to Tehran, Western governments must stand firm and hold Iran accountable for its malign activities. ”
Tehran University professor says university demonstrators will support Iran in US conflict
Iran’s Mohajar-4 drone, manufactured by Quds Aviation Industries and tested at Ganzineh Airfield, has been widely distributed, according to an online document from the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. (Courtesy of the Iranian National Council of Resistance)
The Qods Aviation Industry, as well as its new name, the Light Aircraft Design and Manufacturing Industry, is on the Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons.
According to Breaking Defense, its latest unmanned aircraft, the Mohajar 10, can carry a 300 kilogram payload with a range of 2,000 kilometers. Released in August 2023, the drone has a 450-liter fuel tank and can stay airborne for 24 hours. A photo of a new drone shared by an Iranian television station showed text in both Hebrew and Farsi advising viewers to “prepare shelter.” Reuters reported.
Brett Velikovich is a U.S. Army veteran and author of the following books: “Drone Warrior”“Inside reports from elite soldiers pursuing America’s most dangerous enemies” and that blueprints for the deadly Mohajar and Shahed series drones are being exported to Iranian agencies around the world, “These “One or two people can launch a single drone.” “From the middle of the field…and they have the ability to launch attacks as powerful as any major nation has ever had,” Veljković said.
Veljković added that this would allow Iran to “sow confusion and discord” while also providing “plausible deniability.” He claims that the regime “wants to use these long-range drone systems to demonstrate some form of control over the Middle East and the region.”
In 2020, a new 30 x 40 meter hangar was added to the UAV test site, 10 km north of Qom. The authorized organization, Quds Aviation Industry, trains members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Iranian proxies in the field. (Courtesy of the Iranian National Council of Resistance)
Drones have played a role in the escalation that has been occurring overseas since October 7th. The U.S. Institute of Peace points out that between October 2023 and February 2024, “U.S. forces deployed across the Middle East were attacked more than 160 times by pro-Iranian militias.” .
One of those blows was fatal. On January 28, Iranian proxies used drones to kill three US military personnel in Jordan. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Iraq’s Islamic Resistance Movement was behind the attack. He did not say which Iranian proxy group affiliated with the Resistance was responsible. The Pentagon said it could not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for information about the group behind the attack or the type of drone used. U.S. Central Command told Fox News Digital it does not comment on ongoing investigations.
Biden administration’s sanctions waivers will give Iran access to billions of dollars in funding to continue war effort, experts say
Iranian rebels have exposed a secret drone base in the country. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is said to have overseen the country’s drone project since 2004. (Photo: Ayatollah Khamenei: Getty Images/Base: NCRI)
On April 13, Iran sent dozens of Shahed-136 aircraft toward Israel in retaliation for the April 1 bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, that killed seven members of the Revolutionary Guards. They launched drones and hundreds of missiles. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not respond to requests for comment on whether the Mohajar system was used against Israel in Iranian attacks or in attacks after October 7.
Veljković recently visited Israel and said he witnessed “a lot of activity” on the northern border where the IDF was “fighting Hezbollah in a kind of covert war.” Drones are also part of that conflict, but Veljković has not reported sightings of Iranian drones on the northern border.
“The Israelis have very strong defenses against drones,” Veljković said. “But Iranian scientists are trying to develop something new every day, testing radio waves to figure out how to get around Iron Dome, how to get around the Patriot missile system. ” he added.
At the UAV proving ground in Ganjineh, Iran, Mohajar series drones are being tested and Iranian agents are being trained to operate the drones. The runway has been expanded twice since 2007 and is now 1,500 meters long, allowing him to test larger drones on site. (Courtesy of the Iranian National Council of Resistance)
There is no indication whether Mohajar series drones have been used by Iran, its Hezbollah proxy, or other proxies to attack Israeli or U.S. forces since October 7. The MEK was not aware of any evidence that Qom drone sites were used in Iran. Attacks against Israel since October 7th.
According to an online document from the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), the Mohajar system has spread to Iran’s allies. TRADOC writes: mohajar 4 platformbegan mass production in 1999 and was distributed “widely,” including to non-state actors. Used for surveillance and interdicting drug smugglers, the Mohajar 4 can also be equipped with Hydra unguided rockets. It can stay in the air for 7 hours.
The instigator of the “Death to America” chant in Chicago writes for Iranian state TV and Hezbollah-affiliated channel
Mohajar 6 began production in 2018. According to TRADOC, Syria, Hezbollah, Ethiopia, the Russian Federation, Iraq and Venezuela have access to the drone. The drone can fly for up to 12 hours, launch and recover from an airstrip, and can carry a “multispectral surveillance payload and/or up to two precision-guided munitions,” according to military documents.
MEK provided Fox News Digital with documents and aerial photos showing how the Qom site has expanded in recent years. The site was first proposed as a UAV testing site in February 2005, according to translated documents provided by the MEK from Iran’s Armed Forces Real Estate and Land Agency. In May 2006, 1,800 hectares (over 4,400 acres) of land near Qom was handed over. It goes to the Ministry of Defense and military logistics.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (right) spoke while standing next to Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami (left) and Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri. , April 18, 2023, during a military parade celebrating Iranian Army Day near Imam Khomeini Mausoleum in southern Tehran. Raisi said that if Israel takes “the slightest action” against Iran, we will destroy Haifa and Tel Aviv. (Morteza Nicobazul/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
MEK reports that only 949 hectares were used for the site. Aerial photos show the site’s first 500-meter runway, built in 2007. In 2014, photos showed that the runway was extended to his 1400 meters. The photo shows that the runway was expanded to a further 1,500 meters in 2020, “allowing larger drones to be tested as well.” Additional photos show that a hangar measuring approximately 30 x 40 meters was added in 2021.
According to the MEK report, asymmetric warfare forms “an important part of a deliberate strategy that relies on the widespread use of drones and missiles,” which the regime manufactures with the support of its allies. I can do it. Agents carry out these operations on their behalf. administration. ” The MEK also cited “sources” who claimed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “has personally supervised Iran’s drone project since 2004.”
The MEK is calling on other Western countries to follow the United States’ 2019 designation of the Revolutionary Guards. foreign terrorist organization.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“In my opinion, it was Iran that orchestrated the attack on October 7,” Veljković said. He explained that the regime “used one of their proxy groups, but it’s their money and supplies, to avoid putting all the blame on them.” He said the U.S. government “doesn’t know right now the true amount of unmanned aircraft systems that the Iranians are building, and we won’t feel the impact tomorrow. It will be many years from now.” “Dear,” he warned. .
