Army Stages Large-Scale Maneuvers

Iran's Army has launched a two-day major military exercise involving ground, naval, and aerial forces under its command.

The military drills, codenamed the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), started early on Monday on an order by Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the Army's deputy commander for coordination, Press TV reported.

The exercises cover an expanse of three million square kilometers in southern and southeastern Iran, the Makran coastal strip, and other areas in the Gulf of Oman.

Later on Monday, Rear Admiral Seyyed Mahmoud Mousavi, the spokesperson for the wargame, said the Army's Ground Forces fired a Fajr 5 rocket and a Naze'at missile as part of the exercises.

Mousavi explained that the first day saw operations by naval surface and subsurface vessels as well as aerial craft to monitor, track, and destroy mock enemy units to prevent them from approaching Iranian waters.

Later in the day, he said, special forces and commando units guarding the coastline moved to destroy intruding enemy vessels.

Army's Ground Forces moved in to back up the Navy in defending the coastline and preventing enemy forces from infiltrating into Iranian territory; and the Fajr 5 rocket and Naze'at missile were fired during that phase, Admiral Mousavi said.

He said the Air Force conducted sorties to reinforce ground and naval forces, and the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base monitored the field of fight.

Iranian Armed Forces regularly conduct drills to maintain defensive readiness and to incorporate technologically new weapons systems.