Iran steps up air defense drills near key nuclear site amid Israeli, US threats

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s military has begun drills focusing on air defenses near the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in the center of the country as part of exercises planned nationwide, state media reported on Tuesday.

The drills — dubbed Eqtedar, or “might,” in Farsi — have involved the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideological branch of Iran’s military, alongside the army.

“The first phase of the joint Eqtedar exercises in the air defense zone of the Natanz nuclear facility has commenced under the orders of the air defense headquarters commander,” state TV said.

It added that IRGC air forces were undertaking “an all-out point defense” of the site “against a multitude of air threats in tough electronic warfare conditions.”

On Monday, IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said the drills, which will also cover other parts of Iran until mid-March, were being conducted in response to “new security threats,” without elaborating.

Several branches of the IRGC, including the navy and the paramilitary Basij forces, will also take part in the exercises, he added.

At the end of October, Israel attacked key military targets in Iran, degrading its air defense and missile production capabilities in retaliation for a massive ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier that month.

Iran’s attack was launched in response to Israel’s killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September and involved hundreds of ballistic missiles being shot at Israel, triggering sirens across the country.

There were no casualties, but the IDF said that certain airbases were hit, although the Air Force’s capabilities were unaffected.

Israel’s response damaged Iran’s missile production capabilities as well as elements of the nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF said, although they added that the damage to the nuclear program was not significant enough to thwart it.

They did say, however, that Iran’s ability to produce ballistic missiles and solid fuel, which is used for long-range missiles, was greatly diminished.

It also reportedly destroyed much of Iran’s air defense system, including its four Russian-made S-300 systems.

Last week, US news website Axios reported that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had presented President Joe Biden with options for a potential US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities if Tehran moved toward developing a nuclear weapon before January 20, when Donald Trump takes office.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei lambasted the reports, saying threats against the country’s nuclear facilities were “a gross violation of international law.”

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop atomic weapons.

However, Iran, which is sworn to destroy Israel, has in recent years increased its manufacturing of enriched uranium, and it is the only non-nuclear weapons state to possess uranium enriched to 60 percent, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog said.

That level is well on the way to the 90% required for an atomic bomb and beyond anything needed for a civilian nuclear program.

Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program soared after the United States, during Trump’s first term in office, withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal that offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear ambitions.

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