Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 5, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
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Iran showcased Russian-made defence systems in a military drill after Israeli strikes. The exercise highlights Iran's air defence capabilities amid regional tensions.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran used Russian-made long-range air defence systems in a military exercise on Wednesday, following Israeli strikes last October which Israel said had seriously weakened Tehran's defensive capabilities.
The exercise took place one day after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss regional topics including Iran's nuclear programme.
Both leaders said Iran could not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, with Trump announcing earlier the resumption of his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
On Oct. 26, Israeli war planes hit missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran, the Israeli military had said. This followed an Iranian attack on Israel on Oct. 1 involving about 200 ballistic missiles.
Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday that in a simultaneous operation, Iran's long-range air defence system Bavar-373 and Russian-made S-300 shot down a hypothetical hostile target by firing missiles.
"Some enemy officials and media outlets, after the malicious attack in October, had claimed that they had rendered Iran's long-range air defence systems non-operational," it said.
Israel's then defence minister Yoav Gallant said in October that the Israeli strikes had weakened Iran's attack and defensive capabilities, leaving it at a huge disadvantage in the event of future action.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Iran utilized the Bavar-373 long-range air defense system and the Russian-made S-300 during the military exercise.
The exercise followed Israeli airstrikes in October that Israel claimed had significantly weakened Iran's military capabilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss regional issues, including Iran's nuclear program.
Iranian state TV reported that their long-range air defense systems successfully shot down a hypothetical hostile target during the exercise.
Israeli officials, including then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, claimed that the strikes had weakened Iran's defensive capabilities, putting them at a disadvantage.
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