Israel can expect more drone infiltrations into its airspace in the future, the
head of Iran’s Basij militia, Mohammed Reza Naqdi, said on Friday, according to
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
The IAF shot down a small unmanned
aerial vehicle as it flew over southern Israel earlier this month, in one of the
most flagrant violations of the nation’s airspace in years.
Hezbollah
leader Hassan Nasrallah took credit for sending the aircraft into Israel, saying
that it was Iranian-made and was shot down near the Dimona
reactor.
“Zionists must expect hundreds of other drones in 25 different
models with new flying systems that they won’t know how to confront,” Naqdi told
reporters.
He added that the infiltration reflected only a small part of
Hezbollah’s capability, and that it had dealt a significant blow to Israel,
according to Fars.
A number of senior Iranian officials have already
remarked that the move proved Israel’s air defense systems were
inadequate.
Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said last week that the
drone infiltration has “shown the weakness of the Zionist regime’s Iron Dome,”
while the deputy coordinator for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Jamaluddin Aberoumand said the incident indicated that the Iron Dome system
“does not work and lacks the necessary capacity.”
The Iron Dome system,
jointly funded with the United States, is designed to shoot down short-range
guerrilla rockets, not slow-flying aircraft.
Former Lebanese prime
minister Fouad Siniora claimed that the UAV that flew over Israel was sent at
Iran’s behest, and that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah did not consult with
the Lebanese government before sending the drone.
Last week, UN
Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said that Hezbollah’s decision to send the UAV
into Israeli airspace could risk stability in Lebanon by prompting Israeli
retaliation.