Israeli armed
diversionists killed the father of Iran's drones
program
Iran
- On Aug. 1, Reza Baruni, the father of Iran's military UAV
(drones) program, died in an explosion that destroyed his closely secured
villa. He lived in the high-scale neighborhood secluded for high Iranian officials in the southern town of Ahwaz in oil-rich
Khuzestan. He was killed in a raid by Israeli armed
diversionists, who entered his well-defended villa in western
Iran. Some suspect certain Gulf Arab emirates' intelligence services commissioned the Baruni
murder. Bodies of Reza Baruni, his wife and two children and a relative were buried under the
ruins. Later rescuers pulled their bodies out.
The official version produced an exploding gas canister as the cause of the blast.
However, intelligence sources 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. Hiding behind his public face as a retired army major, the dead man created Iran's program for manufacturing military drones from scratch and trained a new generation of engineers and planners to take over. But despite his efforts and the hefty sums Iran invested in the industry, the product never really came up to the advanced standards achieved by a very few countries.
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."
