Page 56 - IRANRptNov20

Vast air defence drills ‘use half of Iran’s airspace’
outbreak.
Despite claims from the US that a decade-long UN arms embargo on Iran did not expire last week—all other major powers insist it did—Tehran says it is now free to export and import conventional weapons.
"Iran has shipped missiles to the Houthis [in Yemen], so we know they are ready, willing, and able to ship them to Venezuela and other possible buyers," Abrams said.
Half of Iran’s airspace was on October 21 used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and regular army as they conducted a vast joint ​air defence exercise​ codenamed “Guardians of Velayat Sky-99”.
The IRGC said the exercise put to the test a wide range of military equipment, including missile and radar systems, electronic warfare, reconnaissance and communications tools and monitoring networks. Iranian ​state TV​ aired footage of multiple types of missiles used in the drills in a message of defiance to the West and Arab nations that have been setting up diplomatic relations with Israel.
Military spokesman Abbas Farajpour said the drills tested preparedness and reinforced operational experience to protect a “sensitive” centre. However, he did not disclose what that was. “Maintaining security is a job with no leave, and invites constant readiness among armed forces against any threat,” he said. During the war games, medium and high-altitude objects were targeted by two missile defence systems developed by the IRGC and the army. Al-Monitor reported how epic terms in praise of the exercise were used, citing an IRGC-linked media outlet​ that warned: “Any eagle transgressing Iran’s territorial airspace [will] find its wings clipped.”
In June 2019, Iranian forces downed an ​American drone​ over the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf after the aircraft allegedly entered Iranian airspace.
In January, a barrage of missiles unleashed by Iran hit a US-run airbase in neighbouring Iraq in what Iranian officials said was a “​slap in America’s face​” in return for the US assassination of de facto head of Iran’s armed forces Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad’s International Airport.
The huge exercise, added officials, put to the test a new generation of equipment that they said was ​entirely domestically developed​. Tehran has repeatedly declared that decades of sanctions have served as a blessing in disguise, motivating Iran to strengthen defences based on indigenously developed technologies.
Some of those technologies, Iran claims, can now be exported
9.1.12 ​Utilities & power sector news
Tehran to decommission three high pollution oil-fired power plants
Tehran has plans to decommission three high pollution oil-fired old power plants within the next three years as part of an energy efficiency drive, ILNA has reported.
Much of the electricity and power infrastructure in Iran dates back to before the 1979 revolution. Big American companies like General Electric that were ejected from the country after the coup had helped create the infrastructure in conjunction with the former Pahlavi monarchy. Since then the Islamic Republic has continued to operate much of that infrastructure but has had to fabricate parts locally as US sanctions have made it impossible to continue importing replacement parts.
According to the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company (TPPH), there is
56​ IRAN Country Report November 2020 www.intellinews.com