Iran’s Army has reported that ground, air and naval forces will conduct military exercises overnight Thursday in Jask, east of the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit route for oil and gas tankers.
Deputy Army Commander for Coordination Affairs, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayari, said the joint exercises are aimed at enhancing the Iranian Army’s skills, creating «synergies» and increasing combat readiness as well as deterrence power, IRNA news agency reported.
Sayari explained at a press conference that the maneuvers, the duration of which he did not specify, will involve infantry units, armored and mechanized units of the ground forces and air defense, among others.
Tehran reproached Washington in the military exercises carried out last year near Hormuz for provoking a «dangerous» situation after firing at several Iranian speedboats that approached a US Coast Guard vessel while it was escorting a submarine.
According to Washington, the Iranian vessels exhibited «aggressive behavior» as they approached to within approximately 137 meters of the vessel, after which it fired 30 rounds from a 50-millimeter machine gun in an emergency signal.
For its part, the Revolutionary Guard rejected these implications on the part of the United States and remarked that Iranian waters are a «red line», for which Tehran would respond «consistently» against any violation thereof.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
