Iran is currently conducting a major naval exercise in the Indian Ocean and the northern Red Sea, the Iranian news agency Tassanim revealed today (Saturday).
The exercise, which combines maneuvers by the Iranian Navy, Air Force and Revolutionary Guards, simulates various scenarios of naval combat away from Iran's coastline.
The exercise, dubbed the "Zolficar 1400", will reach its main stage tomorrow, in a series of maneuvers that include missile fire, use of special forces and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The main liaison officer between the Iranian navy and the army command, Deputy Admiral Hibibula Sayari, said the emphasis in the maneuver was on the use of weapons developed in Iran without relying on foreign military technology.
Explosion of a ship as part of an exercise by the Iranian navy, Photo: AP
The Iranian stated that advanced means of electronic warfare and submarine combat would be used during the exercise.
"We will show everyone that we are prepared for any threat to Iran's territorial integrity, and I am able to act away from our shores in order to protect our interests. We will be able to deal with any threat posed by the enemy in the future as well," Sayari said.
The Iranian media claimed last week that the Islamic Republic had recently succeeded in thwarting an American attempt to boycott oil destined for the Islamic Republic in the Arabian Sea region.
According to Iranian institutional television, this is an American move designed to thwart the import of oil to Iran, which is known to be under a heavy sanctions press that actually prevents it from having legal access to the world's oil markets.
According to the Mehr news agency, in the incident the American forces detained a tanker carrying the oil and forced it to transfer it to another tanker, but at one point the Revolutionary Guards forces raided the other tanker and actually snatched it from the Americans with the confiscated oil.
