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Tehran Bans Drones After Security Scares


FILE - Drones fly above smog blanketed Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dec. 25, 2016.
FILE - Drones fly above smog blanketed Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dec. 25, 2016.

The Iranian military has banned the unauthorized use of drones in the capital Tehran, after several security scares caused by unpiloted aircraft that are increasingly popular with hobbyists and filmmakers.

The general staff of the armed forces has issued an edict which means drones may only be used if they have been given permits from one of two government ministries or the state broadcaster, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander said on Monday.

"Flying private and personal quadcopters ... is forbidden in Tehran," Seyed Ali Reza Rabiei, operations commander at the Tharallah military base in Tehran, was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news site.

In December, Iranian security forces shot down a drone as it approached the Tehran offices of the president and the supreme leader. Media later reported the aircraft was being operated by a film crew shooting aerial footage for a documentary.

Last month, security forces shot at a quadcopter that entered a restricted zone in central Tehran which then flew off.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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