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window.addeventlistener("domcontentloaded",function(){expressapp.taboola.push({mode:'alternating-above-article',container:'taboola-above-article-express',placement:'above article express',target_type:'mix'})})   iran ramps up war games with military exercises on border with azerbaijaniranian army ground forces have started a military exercise in the northwestern part of the country, attended by armoured trucks, artillery batteries, uav drones and electronic warfare units. by james lee  17:31, fri, oct 1, 2021   | updated: 18:19, fri, oct 1, 2021                    link copied  iran: ebrahim raisi criticises us sanctions in un address    sign up to receive our rundown of the day's top stories direct to your inbox  subscribe  invalid emailwe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. this may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. you can unsubscribe at any time. more infoadding to the military equipment on the ground, the army is being supported by helicopter gunships in a drill code-named: fatehan-e khaybar (conquerors of khaybar). while some iranian officials claim the war games are purely operational routine, others have hinted at the notion of worsening ties between tehran and its northern neighbour, azerbaijan. related articles      iran accused of crossing nuclear ‘red lines’ by israel      iran, china and russia under fire for helping north korea test missile on wednesday, brigadier general mohammad pakpour, commander of the islamic revolutionary guards corps ground forces, told reporters in iran that it will not tolerate its neighbours becoming “a safe haven and a base for the presence and anti-security activities of the fake zionist regime".adding to the security priorities of the islamic republic, brigadier general kiomars haydari stated regional violent non-state actors were also in the area.“the overt and covert presence of the zionist regime’s proxies and the possibility of a significant number of daesh (isis) terrorists in regional countries add to the importance of this exercise,” said general haydari.he went on to state: “since we are not sure whether they have departed the area, the drill conveys a message to them. they and the zionists must know that they have no place in the region, and that the armed forces of the islamic republic of iran are fairly sensitive to them, and will deal with them wherever they see them.”read more: iran slam us for sanctions with 'destruction of mankind' comment  iran has ramped up its defence capabilities (image: getty)  the drills are on iran's northern border with azerbaijan (image: getty)the rhetoric of ‘zionist regime’ comes from the fact that israeli drones have been provided to azerbaijan, and were used in the recent conflict in the nagorno-karabakh region against armenian targets.israel has in recent times been strengthening its ties with azerbaijan, giving tel-aviv a strategically important geopolitical ally against the islamic republic.tel-aviv has also recently normalised ties with various arab nations, including bahrain, the united arab emirates and morocco, with just this week seeing the first commercial flight between tel-aviv and manama.wary of the vacuum left behind following the collapse of the afghanistan government, and the apparent pockets of isis takfiri terrorists left behind in nagoro-karabakh, iran’s defence preparations have intensified.  iran relies on innovative indigenous military hardware (image: getty) related articles      world war 3 mapped: the six places where ww3 could break out in 2021      iran, china and russia under fire for helping north korea test missile with iran under heavy us-imposed sanctions following the withdrawal of the jcpoa by former us president donald trump, the regime has had to rely on homegrown defence strategies and hardware.brigadier haydari highlighted that four new indigenous military achievements had taken place during the drills, including a long-endurance drone flight that can hit its targets with pinpoint accuracy, electronic warfare systems that can be used in defensive or offensive measures, as well as the introduction of new anti-tank ballistics.“we will also evaluate the calibre of indigenous smart artillery shells during the exercise,” the general added.iran has ramped up its defensive security throughout the country in recent times following a spate of incidents widely liked to israeli intelligence operations.don't missuk asks german residents to drive lorries to help out [reveal]north korea test another missile hours before un meeting [report]brexit bitterness: europe watching uk petrol crisis with glee [opinion]  the us is hoping to rejoin the jcpoa following trump withdrawal (image: getty)  israel is believed to have over 300 nuclear warheads (image: getty stock image )the assassination of top iranian scientist mohsen fakhrizadeh, as well as several suspicious explosions within iran’s nuclear sites and naval assets have bared the marks of the israelis, something that the former head of mossad, yossi cohen recently confirmed was possible in a post-retirement interview.iran has recently seen the election of its eighth president in the form of conservative cleric, ibrahim raisi.with the economic sanctions placed on iran being a priority for the new president, diplomatic measures are being taken to re-start the jcpoa talks allowing the usa to rejoin.should an agreement be made, and sanctions be lifted, the country would see some relief to its economy.however, tel-aviv has been lobbying hard to derail the talks, making repetitive and unsubstantiated claims that iran is nearer than ever to making a nuclear weapon.iran has vehemently denied pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, and is a signatory member of the non-proliferation treaty, or npt, unlike israel, which is alleged to have over 300 nuclear warheads, and is not a member of the npt. related articles    israeli data 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utag_data.ads.fb_pixel!=="undefined"&&utag_data.ads.fb_pixel==!0){!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callmethod?n.callmethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createelement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getelementsbytagname(e)[0];s.parentnode.insertbefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_us/fbevents.js');fbq('init','568781449942811');fbq('track','pageview')}     var jwplayerstandalone=!1;let jwinterval=setinterval(checkinitjwconditions,500);function checkinitjwconditions(){if(typeof flagtcfloaded!=='undefined'&&flagtcfloaded&&expressapp.mantis.dataloaded){expressapp.log('jwplayer initialization');initjwplayer();clearinterval(jwinterval)}} function initjwplayer(){if(expressapp.jwplayer!==undefined){expressapp.jwplayer.init()}else{let 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a=document.createelement("script");a.type="text/javascript";a.async=!0;a.src="https://reach-id.orbit.tm-awx.com/analytics.js.gz";document.getelementsbytagname("body")[0].appendchild(a)}) document.addeventlistener("tcfloaded",function(){expressapp.log('[tcfloaded] bluevenn');let a=document.createelement("script");a.type="text/javascript";a.async=!0;a.src="//d81mfvml8p5ml.cloudfront.net/qnn0icbp.js";document.getelementsbytagname("body")[0].appendchild(a)}) window.addeventlistener('load',(event)=>{const bodyelement=document.getelementsbytagname("body")[0];const alllinks=bodyelement.getelementsbytagname('a');const firstmatching=/skimresources|awin1|amzn\.to|amazon\.|england-fa-shop\.sjv|anrdoezrs|in-txt\.net|webgains|partnerize|ticketmaster-uk|prf\.hn/ for(let link of alllinks){let url=link.getattribute('href');let onclick=link.getattribute('onclick');if(url!==null&&url[0]!=='/'){let match=url.match(firstmatching);if(match!==null&&(onclick===null||!onclick.match(/affiliate 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