Iran Again Showing Military Might with Air Force Drills

For the second time since the middle of October, Iran’s air force has begun a military preparedness drill, with locally made drones alongside its fleet of aging US and Russian-produced aircraft. The two-day drill includes various exercises, such as air-to-air refueling and missiles being fired at targets. Forces from eight air bases are participating. This drill comes after the United Nations ended a more-than decade-long arms embargo last month. It expired under the mandate of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers despite objections from the United States, which unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018. Iran is purportedly seeking to upgrade its aging US-built F-14s, F-4s and F-5s, which predate the 1979 Islamic revolution, when Islamists overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.