Iran Post is developing a project to deliver post and packages using drones, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology wrote on his Twitter account.

Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi also posted a video of a pilot phase drone from the national postal service making a landing near the doorsteps of his office in Tehran to deliver a parcel.  

"The service we unveiled today in the form of drones delivering packages is the product of an Iranian company. The UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] can take delivery of packages or deliver them... and be used for urban, Red Crescent and special relief services," the minister said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

"We are inviting all knowledge-based companies that can design a product with these specifications to join us in this project, as we are now assessing how many UAVs Iran Post needs to provide this service," he added.

The minister said that following a showcasing of the planned service, Turkey’s postal company contacted him as regards mounting a possible Turkish trial.

Prior to the video-tweet, Azari-Jahromi teased social media followers for a week about a “surprise” that was in store.

Many on social media responded along the lines of “Hopefully it will be your resignation announcement”, following the recent week-long internet blackout in Iran that took place after social unrest broke out nationwide.

Iran’s disconnection of the internet in the midst of demonstrations and riots, provoked by a sudden big petrol price hike, cost local telecom operators around $90mn, Azari Jahromi told local media on December 2. Several independent observers responded that appeared to be a huge under-estimate of the financial damage caused.