Tehran, April 22: Iran’s state television says the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard has started large-scale war games in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The Thursday report says naval, air and ground units from the Guard will participate in the three-day games codenamed ‘The Great Prophet’.
According to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Deputy Commander, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, “The exercise is not a threat to any neighbouring country”, and carries the message of “peace and friendship” for the Persian Gulf states.
Iran annually holds military manoeuvres in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which some 40 percent of the world’s oil and energy supplies pass through, to show off its military capabilities.
This year’s war games, however, could heighten tension at a time when the West is at a deepening standoff with Iran over its nuclear program. The West suspects the program conceals a nuclear arm production drive, a charge that Iran denies.
–Agencies