Iran tested powerful ballistic and cruise missiles and drones during a five-day military exercise that began on Monday, state TV said.
The exercises are taking place at the same time as negotiations on a potential return to the 2015 nuclear deal, under which Iran allowed UN inspections of its nuclear programme in return for the easing of international sanctions.
Washington has in the past insisted that Iran's missile programmes be included in any nuclear negotiations, while UN Resolution 2231, which remains in force until 2023, places international sanctions on Iran's ballistic-missile programme.
"The use of ballistic missiles by the Revolutionary Guards' navy is a new concept ... and they hit their targets with 100 per cent precision," Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Gen Hossein Salami told state TV.
In January 2020, Iran fired a volley of at least 12 ballistic missiles at US bases in Iraq after the death of Iranian general Qassem Sulaimani in a US drone strike near Baghdad.
The accuracy of the missiles surprised some observers by hitting specific buildings on one of the US bases, Al Asad, injuring 100 American soldiers.
Previously, Iran's ballistic missiles were judged to have what military scientists call a "circular error probable" of 450 metres.
This means that they would typically land within 450 metres of a target. The attacks on Al Asad proved the weapons were considerably more accurate.
Iran also stands accused by the UN of firing cruise missiles at major oil infrastructure in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, in September 2019. A UN report said that "the cruise missiles and/or parts thereof used in the four attacks are of Iranian origin".
Iran says its ballistic missiles have a range of 2,000 km and are capable of reaching Israel and US bases in the region.
On Monday, Iran gave a warning of a "crushing" response to any move against it by Israel, which opposes efforts by world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and has long threatened military action if diplomacy fails to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb. Iran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.
The Iranian military exercises also included the simultaneous firing of five cruise missiles and the launching of armed drones capable of hitting two targets each, Iranian media reported.
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- On sale: 2026
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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GAC GS8 Specs
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BMW M5 specs
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Specs
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Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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