TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Iranian Army has started large-scale military exercises in an area stretching from the eastern sector of the strategic Strait of Hormuz to the northern tip of the Indian Ocean and parts of the Red Sea, with the participation of airborne units, special forces, and rapid reaction brigades.
Rear Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, the spokesman for the joint drills codenamed Zolfaqar-1400, said troops serving in the Army’s infantry and armored units, mechanized regiments, air defense units, naval units, and Air Force have taken part in the main stage of the exercise.
He said participating tactical and coastal units in the war game have successfully carried out various reconnaissance, surveillance, and combat exercises, employing different types of electronic warfare equipment and drones such as the homegrown Ababil-3, Yasir, Sadeq, Mohajer-4, and Simorgh unmanned aerial vehicles, besides P3F, RF4, and Boeing 707 aircraft.
The senior military figure highlighted that marine and commando units of the Iranian Army and its Navy carried out airborne, heliborne, and amphibious exercises, launched surprise attacks, and stroke predetermined mock enemy targets.
“The units used a wide variety of military equipment and weapons, including speedboats, fast attack craft, underwater propulsion vehicles, and rocket launchers,” Mousavi said.
He highlighted that the Iranian marines and commandos, regardless of tough topographical features of the area and intense attacks by mock enemy forces, utilized effective combat and reconnaissance strategies to prevent the latter from conducting surveillance activities and making on-ground progress.
He said Iranian naval forces employed domestically-developed Azarakhsh, Shahab and Ra’d speedboats, which were equipped with rocket launchers, to destroy the naval units of the mock enemy.
Other missions carried out during the war game included naval mines planting, coastal defense by means of artillery units, and heliborne operations, the admiral added.
Mousavi further hailed the sustainability of communications during the ongoing military drills, stating that during the exercise, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force monitors the country’s airspace and that of the exercise zone, while air defense units confront mock enemy targets. Elite fighter pilots and unmanned aerial vehicles of the Iranian Army also conduct air patrol operations.
He pointed out that all stages of Zolfaqar-1400 war game will be evaluated by experts of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Khatam-al Anbiya Central Command, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Army.
Meanwhile Commander of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters said that enemies should refrain from testing the strength of the Army and IRGC.
Major General Gholam Ali Rashid made the remarks among the army commanders in the area of the ‘Zolfaghar 1400’ military exercise.
Referring to the capabilities and combat readiness of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Gen. Rashid said, “The Iranian Army and Armed Forces are always ready for a strategic, operational and tactical confrontation with the aim of maintaining the security stability and territorial integrity of Iran against the coalition of enemies (Specifically the U.S.-Zionist coalition).”
Iran Armed Forces, including IRGC and Army forces, will respond decisively to any threats by any arrogant and aggressor power at any level and from the origin of any country, he stressed.
Stating that the Armed Forces of the country have got familiar with the components of power and the ways how to use them during the Iran-Iraq war, he warned enemies to refrain from testing the strength of the will and power of the Army and IRGC.
