dubai iran will increase its naval presence in the gulf to strengthen its authority over three islands which the united arab emirates says are its territory , tehran said on sunday .
jafari was speaking at a ceremony inaugurating a fifth " naval defense zone " at the port of bandar lengeh .
( reporting by yeganeh torbati and zahra hosseinian ; editing by robin pomeroy ) iran 's media is reporting the country has produced a domestically - made drone capable of hovering in midair .
the 41 - year - old dispute between shi'ite muslim iran and the sunni uae over the islands was against international law .
iran says other drones made dozens of apparently undetected flights into israeli airspace from lebanon in recent years .
the islands sit near oil shipping routes at the mouth of the strategic strait of hormuz and the challenge over their sovereignty is a constant threat to iran frequently claims breakthroughs in military technology and other achievements .
the sunday report by several newspapers including the conservative resalat says an advanced vertical take - off and landing or vtol drone will be displayed in february .
the fifth zone of the guards ' naval force is one of the naval defense chains which is in particular responsible for the defense " in the five zones . "
last month iran 's foreign ministry spokesman ramin mehmanparast said tehran would consider downgrading ties with the uae over the dispute , although the foreign ministry later denied the report , according to state television .