According to the news reported by Iran's "Mardomsalari" website, former member of the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardastani, claimed that the drone attack in Isfahan operated from the territory of Azerbaijan: "This attack was carried out by Israel and probably from the territory of Azerbaijan, which can be considered as related to the joint and unconventional war between Iran and Israel.
According to Ardastani, in reality, Iran worries the Israelis by being in the Syrian Golan Heights and supporting Lebanon's Hezbollah group. In particular, Iran has recently armed the West Bank of the Jordan River. This means that this armament is "creating constant tension" in that region. (source)
Faktyoxla Lab. has conducted an investigation to clarify these claims.
For this purpose, we browsed Persian-language sources. We found this information on the Telegram channel of Cyber Security Department of Sepah (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps):
“Informal. According to some reports, several kamikaze quadcopters carrying about 2 kg of RDX-type explosives took off from a distance of about 1 kilometer, and one of them crashed into the roof of Isfahan's weapons factory.”
Please note: The suicide bomber took off from a location 1 kilometer away from the Isfahan ammunition depot.
The RDX is an explosive chemical called "cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine" (cyclonite, hexogen) with the composition C3H6N6O6. source
We took the second fact confirming this news from IRNA, the official news agency of Iran.
IRNA writes with reference to the Ministry of Defense of Iran:
“The Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Support announced:
On the evening of Saturday, 8th of Bahman (January 28), one of the workshop (or factory) complexes of the Ministry of Defense located in Isfahan was unsuccessfully attacked by quadcopters, and one of them was hit by the accurate fire of the complex's air defense units, and the other two were trapped and blown up by the Air Force.”
The point that attracts attention here is that the Ministry of Defense said that the attack was carried out by a quadcopter.
What is a quadcopter? A quadcopter is a special device for filming and scouting at close, medium and long distances. The operating range varies depending on the communication technology used, transmitter and receiver power. The ones that can fly the longest distance are equipped with Bluetooth. Usually 2.4GHz communication is used in quadcopters. A quadcopter worth $100 can fly 200-250 meters, and those worth $200-300 can fly 200-500 meters from the control point. The most powerful ones, GoPro Karma 3 and Phantom 4 can travel 5 km. The maximum distance of these devices from the control station is 20 km.
(source)
Here are the quadcopters that can fly the longest distance:
DJI Spark (up to 2,000m)
Parrot Bebop Drone 2 (up to 2,000m)
Drone Xiaomi mi 4k (up to 2,000 m)
GoPro Karma (up to 3,000m)
TBS Discovery Pro Long Set (up to 4,000m)
Phantom 4 (up to 5,000 m)
DJI Mavic Pro (up to 7,000m)
DJI Inspire 2 (up to 7,000m)
DS-650T FPV (up to 10,000 m) source
If we believe the official statement of the Ministry of Defense of Iran, that is, if we accept that it was a quadcopter attack on the weapon plant in Isfahan, then the attack should be carried out from a distance of 10 km. Now let's remind the Iranian MP a little about geography. The nearest district of Azerbaijan to Isfahan is Astara. The distance between the cities of Astara and Isfahan is 689 km when calculating it using this site. Does the Iranian MP need a lesson in hydrodynamics to determine how a quadcopter with a maximum flight range of 10 km travels 689 km?
Thus, the claim of the former member of the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardastani, that the drone attack in Isfahan was controlled from the territory of Azerbaijan is baseless and false.
