Local media said the army’s air force and navy, the aerospace force, and the navy of the Revolutionary Guards Corps or IRGC participated in the exercises TEHRAN: Iran said on Friday that it successfully carried out an air defense drill using drones designed to intercept hostile targets in an area stretching from its southwestern to southeastern coasts amid heightened tensions in the region. “Iranian forces have successfully launched a new air defense method that uses drones to intercept and target hostile targets,” state-run Press TV quoted an Iranian army spokesman as saying. The two-day drills, which began on Thursday, cover an area from Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan province to Chahbahar in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. FASTFACT The two-day drills, which began on Thursday, cover an area from Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan province to Chahbahar in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. Local media said the army’s air force and navy, the aerospace force, and the navy of the Revolutionary Guards Corps or IRGC participated in the exercises. Against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Iran and its militia allies around the Middle East have been carrying out attacks on Israeli and US targets in the region in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Iran has also launched strikes on Syria against what it said were Daesh sites and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage center.