BREAKING NEWS Iran unveils advanced UAV drone Hamaseh Epic

Iran has unveiled its latest indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a reconnaissance and combat drone dubbed Hamaseh. The drone was unveiled on Thursday during a ceremony attended by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi. "This drone has been built by defense industry experts and is simultaneously capable of surveillance, reconnaissance and missile and rocket attacks," Vahidi said on the sidelines of the ceremony. "This aircraft with its stealth quality can avoid detection by the enemy," he added. High altitude and long flight range are two other distinguishing features of the new Iranian UAV. Iran has made important breakthroughs in its defense sector in recent years and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems. In August 2010, Iran unveiled its first indigenous long-range drone, Karrar, which is capable of carrying out bombing missions against ground targets, flying long distances at a high speed, and gathering information. Shahed 129, characterized by a 24-hour nonstop flight capability, was another indigenously produced drone introduced in September 2012. On December 17, 2012, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Iran had launched the production line of the ScanEagle drones, adding that the IRGC naval and aerospace divisions were employing the UAVs. MRS/HMV Iran (Listeni/ɪˈrɑːn/[7] or /aɪˈræn/;[8] Persian: ایران‎ [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)) or Persia (pron.: /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/),[8][9] officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia.[10][11][12] The country is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 77 million.[10][13] It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in three spheres of Asia. Tehran is the capital, the country's most populous city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power,[14][15] and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.[16] The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in native use since the Sassanian era, in antiquity. The country is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations.[17] The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC.[1] They were succeeded by the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the Parthians and the Sassanids, before the Muslim conquest in 651 AD. Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires expanded the Persian language and culture throughout the Iranian plateau. Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids.