Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Bomb kills head of Iran's military drone program
On Aug. 1, Reza Baruni, the father of Iran's military UAV program, died in a mighty explosion that destroyed his closely secured villa, debkafile's military and intelligence sources reveal. He lived in the high-scale neighborhood secluded for high Iranian officials in the southern town of Ahwaz in oil-rich Khuzestan.
Very few people in the country outside the top leaders and air force knew about his job and so his death was not generally appreciated as fatally stalling Iran's military drone program for many years.
The official version produced the old standby of an exploding gas canister as the cause of the blast. However, DEBKA-Net-Weekly's intelligence source report that bombs were planted in at least three corners of the building and expertly rigged to explode simultaneously and bring the ceilings crashing down on its occupants. The bomber must therefore have had access to the Baruni home.
Five months ago, US Defense Security Robert Gates told the Senate Appropriations Committee. "Countries like Iran are developing their own UAVs and already have a UAV capability. That is a concern because it is one of these areas where, if they chose to - in Iraq, in Afghanistan - they could create difficulties for us."
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