A member of the US House of Representatives has called for enhancement of Washington's defense capabilities in response to Tehran's unveiling of a new loitering munition drone.
"Iran’s Rezvan loitering munition and its growing drone capabilities underscores the need for the US to bolster its own defense capabilities," said Congressman Pat Fallon in a post on his X account on Saturday.
"Innovative anti-drone defenses and countermeasures are essential to our military's readiness," he added.
His comments came two days after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) unveiled its latest loitering munition drone, the Rezvan, during military drills codenamed Great Prophet 19.
The drone, with a range of 20 kilometers and an operating time of 20 minutes, is designed for rapid deployment and targeted attacks, particularly in complex terrain, according to the IRGC.
The suicide drone is fired from a cylindrical launcher and transmits live video to the operator, allowing for precise target selection and engagement, IRGC media Tasnim reported.
The Great Prophet 19 exercise was the latest in a series of drills conducted by Iran's military to showcase its capabilities and project a message of strength in the region, following consecutive defeats for its allies since September.
Hassan Hassanzadeh, the commander of Tehran’s Mohammad Rasoulollah IRGC base, told local media that the trend of declining participation has intensified since the fall of Iran’s ally, Bashar al-Assad, in Syria. In a rare admission, he acknowledged that many IRGC and Basij members did not respond to calls to join what was intended to be a 110,000-strong drill.
However, the actual participation figure remains uncertain, as Hassanzadeh also said that “According to preliminary figures I have received, at least 27,000 Afghan brothers and sisters residing in Iran have filled out the participation form for the drills.”
Hassanzadeh, referring to what he described as a trend of non-cooperation by IRGC and Basij members with IRGC programs, stated: "Unfortunately, many of our colleagues who have had the honor of serving in the Basij and the IRGC have either declined to participate for various reasons or have not yet given a definitive response. This is a trend that we have seen increase since the events in Syria."
The event appeared more like a parade through the streets of the capital than a military drill intended to prepare for the defense of Tehran. Many Iranians on social media suggested that the exercise was aimed more at intimidating residents and deterring anti-government protests than preparing for a potential foreign attack.
The participants included anti-riot forces riding in groups of motorcyclists, a formation commonly used during protests. Typically, two men share each motorbike, with the passenger armed with clubs or chains to strike protesters.
The event also featured men carrying cardboard cutouts of “martyrs,” such as former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel, and Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, assassinated in Tehran last year. Heavily armed IRGC forces were present, carrying assault rifles and riding in pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns. Some participants, dressed as early Islamic warriors, brandished oversized swords—all these displays seemingly intended to intimidate the public.
An official IRGC announcement highlighted the distribution of free food to all participants, along with a few hundred “wedding gift packages” for supporters preparing to get married. In Iran, free food handed out at such events is commonly referred to as “sandis,” a term often used humorously. Those who attend government-organized gatherings solely for the freebies are mockingly called “Sandiskhor,” or freeloaders.
Iran International analyst, Morad Veisi pointed out before the event that “The timing of the drill coincides with political shifts in the US, including the return of Donald Trump to the White House, and a weakening of Tehran’s regional position, which have raised concerns within the Islamic Republic’s ruling circles.”
“He [Carter] did all he could to push the Shah out without thinking who would replace him,” General Brigadier Yitzhak Segev told Iran International. “Carter spoke against the Shah and criticized him.”
"I'm not saying the regime of the Shah was good or not corrupt. I am not saying Savak was good also, but every time you must think about how to continue or who will be the replacement," Segev added, referring to the late monarch Mohammed Reza Pahlavi's feared spy agency.
Segev served as military attaché in Iran from 1977 to 1979, escaping after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran in February 1979 in a triumphant defeat of the Shah, who had announced he was going on "vacation".
Segev provided his eye-witness accounts, conversations and observations from the years leading to the revolution and its aftermath.
As an elite officer in the Israeli military, Segev had direct conversations with Carter and American, Iranian and Israeli government and military officials in the run-up to the Islamic revolution that transformed the monarchy into an Islamic theocracy.
While Segev said he respects Carter, praising him as a human rights trailblazer and statesman for his role in the Camp David Accords that brought peace between Egypt and Israel, he said the Democratic president let Iran down.
“His treatment of Iran was catastrophic.”
Carter’s role in Iran is a lightning rod of controversy. Many in the Iranian diaspora flocked to social media when learning of Carter’s death on Dec. 29 to again blame him for the rise of Khomeini.
Segev, who continued to have friendly relations with Carter after the 1979 revolution, said the late president believed the end of the Shah’s 37-year reign and 2500 years of monarchy in Iran would lead to democracy.
Carter’s championing of democracy and human rights drove that belief, in Segev’s view. The Americans, he said, naively thought Khomeini, an anti-communist, would protect American interests and felt the Shah had already lost control of the country and was doomed.
General Robert Husyer was dispatched to Tehran as a US envoy in 1979 on a secret mission to meet with the Iranian army, according to Segev, in an account corroborated by declassified US documents and a Husyer's memoir.
“Instead of coming to the army and building confidence with the army or promoting a replacement from the army or civilian (leadership) that would keep relations with America and the West, he really pushed for democracy,” Segev told Eye for Iran.
It would later be revealed that many of these Iranian generals were planning their defection and some even joined the anti-Shah movement.
Husyer in his memoir said Carter’s administration had not ruled out US support for a coup. According to Husyer’s memoir and Segev’s recollections, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security advisor, advocated for immediate action but Cyrus Vance, the secretary of state, opposed a coup.
“Brzezinski wanted [his order] to convey to the Iranian military a green light to stage a military coup. President Carter intended it to convey such a meaning only as a last resort,” Huyser wrote in this memoir.
Within the US government, officials were divided about what to do about its flailing Mideast ally amid backdrop of the Cold War.
Carter’s quest for democracy may have blinkered him on Khomeini’s true intentions, Segev said, and the prevailing threat to the Americans at the time was communism.
“The unusual story is that before Khomeini landed President Carter called the president of France and the president of Germany and told them: ‘don't worry, I checked about Khomeini and he is not communist’,” Segev said.
The BBC published a report in 2016 based on declassified US diplomatic cables saying Carter had contacts with Khomeini and his representatives in Tehran prior to his takeover.
Khomeini, who was in exile in Paris at the time, reportedly assured the Americans he would restore stability and that American interests would be protected in a series of letters he sent to Carter.
Islamic Republic officials have repeatedly denied any secret correspondence with a nation Khomeini referred to as the “great Satan.”
Officials who worked closely with Carter like Stuart Eizenstat, the president's chief domestic policy adviser, blame the Shah for the Islamic Republic's rise.
"Jimmy Carter did not lose Iran, the Shah did," Eizenstat said in a eulogy at the late president’s funeral on Thursday.
In attendance were President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump and all other living former US presidents, making for a rare re-litigation of the hotly disputed events of 1979 before the country's most senior leaders.
Regrets?
A few years after the 1979 revolution, Segev met with President Carter and Cyrus Vance at a peace conference in Atlanta.
Curious about the Carter administration's conclusions after Khomeini had solidified power, he spoke to the former President and Vance, directly asking the latter if he had any regrets about US actions during the 1979 revolution.
“I told him: 'I must ask you. Now after the revolution, how do feel?' He told me that he felt big regret and it was a big mistake,” said Segev, who said he asked the same of Carter later that night.
“President Carter did not show any regret,” he said.
Israeli offer of help
In 1978, as anti-Shah sentiment was growing and spreading outside Iran's capital, the Israelis offered Tehran help.
Israeli military leader and politician Moshe Dayan and Segev met with Nematollah Nassiri, the head of Iran’s former intelligence agency Savak.
The meeting did not go as the Israeli officials had anticipated, Segev said.
“I remember the meeting now after 45 years like it happened yesterday,” he said.
“Nassiri’s son was on his leg and Dayan told him ‘General Nasiri, Segev told me that there are big demonstrations. I came here to offer you any help from Israel.’"
"Nasiri told him, ‘don't worry, everything is under control. We control the situation. We don't need anything. We have everything. But if you are here, let's talk about the war between Ethiopia and Somalia’,” said Segev.
Segev recalls leaving the meeting disappointed and said Dayan told him, "‘I'm ashamed to tell you this. Nassiri is senile. Let's leave him.’"
To learn more about Segev’s escape from Iran and his meeting with Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Beheshti, one of the leaders of the Islamic Revolution, watch or listen to Eye for Iran Episode 33. You can watch on YouTube or Listen on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Castbox or any major podcast platform.
