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TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy has established a popular unit consisting of voluntary local sailors that can carry out operations in oceans with their vessels armed with rockets, a top commander said.  Addressing a conference on Tuesday, IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri said the naval Basij (mobilization forces) for ocean missions has been organized after the successful experience of the IRGC Navy in forming the maritime Basij in the Persian Gulf. He said the maritime Basij in the Persian Gulf includes 55,000 voluntary forces with 33,000 vessels, noting that its second phase will be established in the Caspian Sea. Lauding the bravery of the mobilization forces, the commander said when the Somalian pirates hijacked a launch of the maritime Basij, the voluntary forces took action single-handedly, arrested nine pirates courageously, and handed them over to the military units. The naval Basij for ocean missions involves large boats and la...

TEHRAN (FNA)- Yemen's Armed Forces announced shooting down of an advanced American drone as the aircraft was performing an operation in support of the Israeli regime. The MQ-9 Reaper drone was brought down using a surface-to-air missile as the aircraft was flying in the airspace over Yemen's territorial waters, the Armed Forces said in a statement on Wednesday, Yemen's Al-Masirah television network reported. The aircraft was struck while carrying out an "hostile espionage" operation within the framework of the United States' military support for the Israeli regime, the statement added. "Yemen's Armed Forces lay emphasis on their legitimate right to defend the country and confront all hostile threats," said the Forces' Spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree. "These hostile maneuvers do not serve to prevent the Yemeni Armed Forces from conducting military operatio...