Iran training militants to operate drones: Israel

JERUSALEM

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Sunday accused Iran of training militants on how to operate advanced drones in an Iranian airbase in the central Isfahan province.

"One of the significant tools that Iran has developed to assist its proxies is an array of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can travel thousands of kilometers," Gantz said in a speech at a counterterrorism conference organized by a research center known as the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.

Gantz claimed that militants from Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon were being trained at the Kashan airbase on flying drones\UAVs.

The Israeli defense minister also accused Tehran of seeking to transfer the drones' knowledge to Gaza to "allow Hamas and Islamic Jihad to produce UAVs."

Gantz said these UAVs were allegedly used by Iraqi militias to target US troops and by Yemeni Houthis to attack facilities in Saudi Arabia.

There was no comment from the Iranian authorities on Gantz's accusations.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar