TEHRAN – Iranian Navy Chief Hossein Khanzadi has said Iran possesses intercontinental drones and will use them if necessary.

“Now we have this type of drones and will definitely use them if necessary,” Rear Admiral Khanzadi said in an interview with the Young Journalists Club (YJC) published on Tuesday, Press TV reported.

Iran manufactures drones as a low-cost piece of military equipment to keep watch on the region, he said.

The admiral also said the Islamic Republic is monitoring U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf and has a large archive of moment-by-moment movements of vessels belonging to the U.S. and its allies.

“We can bravely declare that we observe all enemy ships, particularly Americans, point-by-point from their starting point until the moment they enter the region,” he said.

He added that the Iranian armed forces also possess information about the type of their missions and their conduct in the region.

He also censured the British seizure of an oil tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4, adding that the era of “bullying” in the sea is over, and that the interests and sovereignty of all nations should be respected.

Pointing to the June 19 unsafe maneuver by the British-flagged Stena Impero tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, which led to its detention by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Khanzadi said the British tanker violated Iranian and international maritime law, entered the Strait of Hormuz from a busy exit lane, turned off its trackers, and had incomplete documents.

MH/PA