Iran has once again flexed its military muscle, debuting a new unmanned aircraft over the weekend as it also prepares to launch its first nuclear power plant.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed the country's first domestically-made unmanned bomber, Sunday. The 13-foot-long drone can carry up to four cruise missiles and will have a range of 620 miles.
"The jet, as well as being an ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity, has a main message of peace and friendship," Ahmadinejad said at the inauguration ceremony, which fell on the country's national day for its defense industries.
Although the drone aircraft doesn't have the range to reach Israel -- which Iran has vowed repeatedly to destroy -- there's growing concern that the Iranian regime could soon become a nuclear-armed threat.
Iran has also started loading uranium fuel into its first nuclear power plant. The Russians have a billion dollar contract to help build the plant in Bushehr and provided the uranium for it.
Russia has pledged to make sure Iran doesn't divert any of the spent fuel to a possible weapons program. Still, some worry that the plant moves Iran one step closer to developing nuclear weapons.
Iran has insisted its intentions are peaceful and urged outside nations to end sanctions against the nuclear program.
"We advise those who claim to fight against nuclear weapons -- and unfortunately some of them have played a role in arming other countries with nuclear weapons over the past decades -- to change their words to actions," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said.
Last week, Iran also test-fired a new liquid fuel surface-to-surface missile called the Qiam-1.