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News > Iran

Iran’s Ababil-2 Tactical Drone to Be Produced in Tajikistan

  • Manufacturing plant for Iran's Ababil-2 tactical drone opens in Tajikistan. May. 19, 2022.

    Manufacturing plant for Iran's Ababil-2 tactical drone opens in Tajikistan. May. 19, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@Egutz_

Published 19 May 2022
Opinion

Iranian top military official inaugurated a manufacturing plant for self-developed Ababil-2 tactical unmanned aerial vehicle in Tajikistan in an effort to promote and develop joint defense and military cooperation with countries in the region.  
 

The Ababil-2 is a relatively simple and robust drone launched from a fixed rail. Iran often uses them as aerial targets, but they can also be used for basic surveillance or equipped with a small warhead and used as loitering munitions, also called "suicide" or "kamikaze" drones. 

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The factory's inauguration ceremony was held on Tuesday, May 17, in the capital city of Dushanbe and was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Baqheri, Tajikistan's Minister of Defense, Colonel General Sherali Mirzo, and other top military officials.

Expressing the hope that the future will see greater cooperation and interaction at all military and defense levels between both nations, Major General Mohammad Baqheri said at the opening ceremony that "today we have reached a position where, in addition to meeting domestic needs, we can export military equipment to allies and friendly countries in order to strengthen security and sustainable peace." 

The senior Iranian military official called for strengthening cooperation in the fight against terrorism with joint military drills. The theme of the regional cooperation focused on Afghanistan, as reported by Iran Front Page. Located between Iran and Tajikistan, Afghanistan entered a new crisis last summer after the Taliban seized power in the midst of a complicated retreat by the United States.

Washington has refused to recognize the Taliban as the new Afghan government, freezing Kabul's accounts and ending almost all its financial aid to Afghanistan. As a result, the war-torn country has plunged into economic decline, losing 43 percent of GDP and facing near universal hunger throughout Afghan society.

Tajikistan has been struggling with the threat posed by thousands of takfiri militants spread across its southern border with Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul and U.S. forces withdrew in August last year.

The Taliban's victory was written on the wall long before the U.S.-backed government folded in mid-August 2021, and all regional powers, including Iran and Tajikistan, worked to ensure that the country did not become a political pariah or a haven for terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda or the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), who threaten everyone's safety.

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