Iran Navy to hold major drills next year: Commander

Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says Iranian naval forces will stage large-scale drills to boost and put on display the country’s military prowess.

Sayyari said on Saturday that the military maneuvers, code-named Velayat 95, will be held in the Iranian calendar month of Bahman (January20 – February 18, 2017).

“The big Velayat 95 maneuver will be staged with the purpose of promoting and displaying the capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran in defending the country’s sea borders and interests,” the Navy commander added.

He noted that the naval forces will stage more than 20 drills by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017) in different areas.

The naval maneuvers will mainly be held in the north of the Indian Ocean.

Iran’s Navy staged four-day Velayat 94 military maneuvers in January across a large swath of territorial waters and high seas in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Indian Ocean.

During the drills, various types of Ghadir-class and Tareq-class submarines detected and tracked the mock enemy’s mobile targets and destroyed them by firing advanced and overhauled torpedoes.

Iran’s domestically-built Jamaran destroyer and other vessels also fired different torpedoes. The Army’s naval forces fired surface-to-surface Nasr missiles which successfully hit targets.

Iranian naval forces also successfully test fired Nour (Light) surface-to-surface cruise missile which has a range of 150 kilometers. Nour cruise missile has an accurate impact precision, good velocity, high detection power and powerful warhead. It could be launched both from sea and surface.

In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems.

Iran has also conducted other major military drills to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and state-of-the-art army equipment.

The Islamic Republic maintains that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.