Bombing and calling it peace: Iran blasts "preposterous" US diplomacy talk

"Several messages have been conveyed to Washington for resumption of talks via mediators in the past weeks, but Americans have not responded," Reuters quoted an Iranian insider as saying.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday that Washington was speaking to Iran and that the two sides hoped to find a way around the resumption of looming international sanctions, without elaborating.

“Martyrdom is the reward of jihad, whether in the eight-year defense, in the heroic 12-day war, or in Lebanon and Gaza and Palestine,” Khamenei said in a message read at Tehran’s Behesht Zahra cemetery, where ceremonies for “Week of Sacred Defense” were held.

He added: “Nations grow with these struggles and shine with these martyrdoms.”

Khamenei said this year’s commemoration “has acquired another dimension with the martyrdom of a number of prominent figures of the resistance path and brave young people in various places.”

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  In rare move, Iran cancels some annual military parades citing security

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  Iran officials double down on martial rhetoric after sharp Khamenei speech

He called on Iranians to “believe in God’s promise of the triumph of truth and the downfall of falsehood and remain committed to our duty in supporting God’s religion.”

Earlier this week, Iran announced rare changes to its annual military parades, calling off at least two events over what it called security concerns and the need to prioritize military readiness.

The parades, traditionally held during Defense Week beginning on September 22, came this year in the aftermath of 12-day war with Israel in June that dealt the Islamic Republic one of its biggest ever military blows.

A delegation in Washington this week voiced New Delhi’s position in meetings with US officials, stressing that simultaneously cutting Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan flows would risk driving up global prices, the reported cited people familiar with the talks as saying.

India, the world’s third-biggest crude importer, meets nearly 90% of its oil needs from abroad. Its refiners have relied on discounted Russian barrels to ease costs after sanctions curbed Moscow’s wider trade, while Iranian and Venezuelan oil could offer similar discounts.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said this week India wanted to increase US oil and gas purchases, but added that “our energy security goals will have a very high element of US involvement.”

India halted Iranian oil imports in 2019 and stopped buying Venezuelan crude this year as US sanctions tightened.

Replacing those supplies with Middle Eastern barrels would be more expensive, officials said.

The Journal said the Shahed-136’s simple delta wing, propeller engine and composite body enable cheap manufacturing, with Russian-built versions priced at about $35,000 to $60,000 each, compared with Western systems that can cost hundreds of thousands to more than $1 million.

“If you do get into a war, you need deep, deep pockets,” Lt. Gen. André Steur, commander of the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force, told the paper.

The article, written by Alistair MacDonald, said Russia has deployed Shaheds in large salvos -- sometimes alongside missiles -- to saturate Ukrainian air defenses, prompting US and European companies to field look-alike designs.

At a Pentagon event this summer, 18 American-made drone prototypes were on display, the paper reported, including SpektreWorks’ Lucas and Griffon Aerospace’s Arrowhead, both of which mirror the Shahed’s delta planform and are aimed at mass production.

Western manufacturers argue that higher performance can justify higher unit prices. “If twice as many SkySharks hit their target, then it is much cheaper than a Shahed,” Mike Gascoyne, founder of Britain’s MGI Engineering, told the Journal, describing his SkyShark as able to fly at about 280 miles per hour compared with roughly 115 mph for a Shahed-136.

Analysts and defense officials told the Journal that cheap, one-way loitering munitions deployed in swarms present a strategic challenge because they force defenders to expend costly interceptors.

“Cheap, long-range precision saturation strikes are one of the greatest threats to international security,” James Patton Rogers of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute was quoted as saying.

The Journal also cited defense industry figures saying some companies are now selling Shahed-like target drones so air-defense units can train against swarm attacks.

Hugo Coqueret, a business development manager at European missile maker MBDA, was quoted saying, “Mass produced at a fraction of the cost of a cruise missile, it will tire out the enemy’s defense.”

Western governments have imposed rounds of sanctions on Iranian drone producers and procurement networks, blaming Tehran for supplying drones to Russia and to regional armed groups.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards emerged "victorious" in a war three months ago against a global coalition, the force’s deputy chief said.

"The enemy pleaded for a ceasefire and until the final second watched our missiles strike them,” Ali Fadavi said on Thursday.

60 percent of those killed in the 12-day conflict were Guards members, a figure he said showed the organization’s “cohesion across intelligence and operational ranks.”