Iranian Warships Will Carry Armed Drones

"TEHRAN -- Iran unveiled military advances on Friday that have put armed drones aboard its warships, creating a new threat for the U.S. and its allies in the Persian Gulf, as President Biden tours the region in part to help build security partnerships to counter Tehran.

Iranian state TV showed some of Iran's biggest warships and submarines launching drones at sea. The drones can fly for up to 24 hours and 600 miles, it said.

The U.S. and its allies in the region have accused Iran of using drones to target adversaries including Israel and Saudi Arabia, as well as ships in the Persian Gulf. The developments are expected to give Tehran an expanded ability to target foes across the Middle East.

Hours before Mr. Biden was set to fly from Israel to Saudi Arabia to discuss efforts to contain Tehran's military ambitions, Iranian state TV ran the report -- characterizing it as a "welcome to Biden" and showcasing the country's efforts to use drones to challenge the U.S. and its Mideast allies.

Iran's extensive drone program poses one of the biggest threats to the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East. Last July, the U.S. accused Iran of crashing three drones into an Israeli-linked tanker off the coast of Oman, an attack that killed two crew members. Iran denied responsibility.

The U.S. has accused Iran and its proxies of using drones to target Saudi Arabia's oil industry, the United Arab Emirates' capital, and, most recently, Israel's natural-gas rig in the Mediterranean Sea.

To counter Iran's military advances, the U.S. is working to build a new, integrated regional air-defense system that eventually could stretch from Israel to the U.A.E. American military commanders have been conferring with their Israeli and Gulf counterparts on ways to unite their military defenses to better protect the region from Iran's threats.

Iranian officials have described the U.S.-led effort as a provocation that could destabilize the region.

The country's top national security official, Ali Shamkhani, said Tehran would "confront" any step that would change the region's political and security landscape, the state-run news agency IRNA reported.

U.S. efforts to create a broad regional military alliance have been hampered by disagreements among key players that have sometimes diverging interests.

Some countries -- such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- are wary of openly aligning themselves with Israel. Others, like the U.A.E., which sits across the Persian Gulf from Iran and has been targeted by Tehran in the past, are worried that Iran could turn its ire directly on them.

On Friday, Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the Emirati president, said his country wouldn't support a U.S.-led efforts that could be seen as a provocative move.

"The U.A.E. is not going to be a party to any group of countries that see confrontation as a direction, but we do have serious issues with Iran with its regional politics," he added." [1]

1. World News: Iranian Warships Will Carry Armed Drones
Nissenbaum, Dion; Aresu Eqbali. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 16 July 2022: A.8.