With the aim of developing “tactical offensive and defensive strategies to protect Iran’s territorial waters”, the Iranian navy has begun a three-day military exercise not far from the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
Several warships, drones, submarines and aircraft are taking part in the exercise called “Zolfaghar-99”, and various cruise missiles and torpedoes are also being tested. The exercise is viewed critically above all because it is taking place in an area that is important for oil production. Around a fifth of global oil production is transported through the strait in question. It is therefore the world’s most important bottleneck for the oil trade. Iranian military spokesman Shahram Irani explained in a TV interview that Tehran had issued a warning to keep foreign flying objects, particularly US drones, out of the area. In recent years, there have been regular confrontations between the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the US military in the Gulf. As recently as July, the Revolutionary Guards attacked a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier during a military exercise near the Strait of Hormuz. Under US President Donald Trump, the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated massively. The deputy commander-in-chief of the Iranian army, Admiral Habibullah Sayyari, explained in a statement to the FARS news agency on Wednesday that the main stages of this maneuver involving units of the army’s naval, air and ground forces and air defense forces will take place in an area of two million square kilometers in the waters of the eastern Strait of Hormuz, the coasts of Makran, the Sea of Oman and the northern ocean.
