Iran, UN and nuclear
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Estimates show Iran has one of the biggest standing armed forces in the Middle East, along with the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the region - Anadolu Ajansı
The annual meeting commemorates February 8, 1979, when a group of air force officers pledged loyalty to Ruhollah Khomeini in a move to overthrow the Pahlavi dynasty. Khomeini was the founder of the Islamic Republic and the predecessor of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader.
For the first time since 1989, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei skipped the February 8 meeting with air force commanders, breaking a 37-year tradition as tensions rise with US
The images revealed the regime has covered the middle and southern entrances of the nuclear facility with soil, and the northernmost tunnel entrance, which features additional passive defense measure
Khamenei has joined the annual session every year since taking leadership in 1989 -- even through the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a report.
Khamenei misses the Air Force event for the first time in 37 years as US military presence and tensions between Iran and Washington grows.
Iran has ramped up military provocations against US forces as nuclear negotiations loom, with regime officials sending mixed signals on uranium enrichment while refusing to discuss missile programs or terror proxies.
The annual gathering has long been a visible show of loyalty by the armed forces to the Islamic Republic’s top authority. This year, however, Khamenei did not appear.
Iran said Monday night that it attacked American forces stationed at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base.
The notion that Iran only has these various ballistic missiles for defense or maintaining deterrence is contradicted by many of its actions since 2015.
The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln changed its path from the South China Sea more than a week ago towards the Middle East. Its carrier strike group includes Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Iran.