Around 300 Palestinian and Yemeni fighters are holding military training exercises inside Iran, a source familiar with the matter told Iran International, even as President Masoud Pezeshkian is due to deliver a message of regional peace to the UN General Assembly in New York.
The drills are being held at a base 110 km (68 miles) south of the capital Tehran and come at a time of heightened tension across the region, the source added, particularly in Lebanon where Israeli air strikes have killed nearly 600 people in a single day.
Due to the sensitivity of the matter, the source spoke to Iran International on condition of anonymity.
The Shaheed Shabani facility has regularly hosted training sessions for Iran’s allied armed groups in the region, including Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Over the past decade, this base has become a hub for training aimed at strengthening what Iran calls the Axis of Resistance, a transnational network of armed Islamists dedicated to confronting Israel and the United States.
This latest drill appears to be part of a broader effort by Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to prepare its regional allies for potential future operations.
It is focused on “ground assaults, building seizures, and hostage-taking tactics ... (and) guerrilla warfare techniques, bomb-making, and advanced weapons use,” according to the source speaking to Iran International on condition of anonymity.
Multiple such exercises have been held over the past year inside Iran, the source said. Those participating in the trainings arrive from Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria.
Some stay longer than others, getting additional, specialized instructions on the assembly and operation of advanced weaponry, the source added
Earlier this year, the Daily Telegraph reported that Yemen's Houthis were trained at Khamenei Academy of Naval Sciences and Technology in Ziba Kenar on the Caspian coastline north of Iran.
Another site was on Farur Island, a small, uninhabited island in the Persian Gulf controlled by the IRGC's naval forces, the Telegraph report alleged.
Iran’s continued investment in training its regional allies has raised alarm among neighboring countries and Western powers who view these forces as central to Tehran’s strategy of extending its influence in the Middle East.
The Islamic Republic says its actions are part of a defensive strategy to counter threats from Israel and the West.