Iran Conducts Air Defence Drill to Prepare Against Israeli Attack on its Nuclear Sites

In October, carrying out an air strike in Iran, the Israeli air force destroyed four Russian made S-300 air defence systems that Iran had received from Russia.

According to a report in the website of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), on January 7, 2025, Channel 1 (Iran) aired a report detailing an air defence drill at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The exercise, conducted by the IRGC Aerospace Force, reportedly demonstrated the successful interception of swarms of UAVs and cruise missiles targeting the facility, as well as the destruction of bunker-buster bombs launched from fighter aircraft.

The Iranian reporter said that the first stage of the comprehensive air defence [drill], by the powerful defence units of the IRGC Aerospace Force, was successfully conducted  at the nuclear facility in Natanz.

”For security reasons, the news agency of the Iranian Broadcast Authority was allowed to publish only a small part of the sequence of operations,” the report said.

The reporter explained that the drill took place to test the capability of the Iranian air defence systems to deal with aerial attacks.

The report showed the Iranian air defence systems protecting against a swarm of attack UAVs and cruise missiles, attempting to destroy the Natanz nuclear site.

The reporter said that the hostile targets were destroyed successfully.

”Once they intercepted and destroyed the targets, the systems changed their location, as part of a command operation, so that their previous location cannot be detected. This tactical change of venue disrupts the enemy’s calculations for its next wave of attacks. In this case, testing the accuracy and speed is overseen by the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force. In addition, the 9-Dey system is deployed here. Its mission is to confront special targets, like cruise missile, bunker-busters, and UAVs,” added the reporter.