SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iran announces 3-day navy drill from Gulf to Indian Ocean
Tehran, Feb 21 (AFP) Feb 21, 2019
Iran is to launch a three-day annual navy drill from Friday in a vast area of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean including a sensitive global shipping route, state TV reported on Thursday.

"The drill will be held in the waters of Strait of Hormuz, Makran coast, Oman Sea and the north of the Indian Ocean, covering 2 million square kilometres and going on for three days," said Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, Iran's navy commander.

The exercise aims to evaluate the navy's equipment, practice launching weapons and "enable the troops to gain readiness for a real battle," he added.

The strait at the mouth of the Gulf is crucial to global energy supplies, with about a third of the world's seaborne oil passing through it every day.

The show of military might comes at a time of heightened tensions with Iran's main regional rival Saudi Arabia and with Washington, which last year withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The Strait of Hormuz is an international transit route where American forces routinely pass and which has seen tense encounters between them and Iranian forces in the past.

Dubbed as "Velayat 97," the drill will showcase Iran's submarines, warships, helicopters and drones, according to the admiral.

The exercise will also include missile launches from the vessels, Khanzadi added.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Trump-Musk showdown threatens US space plans
Japanese company aborts Moon mission after assumed crash-landing
Renowned Mars expert says Trump-Musk axis risks dooming mission

24/7 Energy News Coverage
'No doubt' Canadian firm will be first to extract deep sea minerals: CEO
Tabletop particle blaster: How tiny nozzles and lasers could replace giant accelerators
Set it and forget it: Autonomous structures can be programmed to jump days in advance

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Iran FM warns Europe against 'strategic mistake' at IAEA; Iran obtained 'sensitive' Israeli intel
DOD is investigating Hegseth's staffers over Houthi-strikes chats
Three dead as Ukraine hit with third-straight day of overnight attacks

24/7 News Coverage
Ailing Baltic Sea in need of urgent attention
Money, mining and marine parks: The big issues at UN ocean summit
Solar power farms would impact less than 1 percent of Arkansas' ag land



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.