Iran Plans Massive Military Drills
Iran said Tuesday that its armed forces will launch maneuvers in western provinces in the middle of this month, coinciding with the Jan. 15 U.N. deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the monthlong drills are scheduled to begin in mid-January. Tehran Radio said only that they will begin in the last 10 days of the Persian month of Dey, which ends Jan. 20.
IRNA, monitored in Nicosia, quoted Gholamali Rashid, a spokesman for the General Command of the Armed Forces, as saying the operation will be the largest ever to be held jointly by the air force, army, Revolutionary Guards Corps and volunteers known as Basij.
He did not say how many troops will take part, but he said live ammunition and new weapons will be used.
The maneuvers are to be held in the provinces of Khuzestan, Ilam and Bakhtaran, which border Iran’s former foe Iraq, Rashid said. Fighter jets also will range farther south on missions over the Persian Gulf, he said.
Rashid told IRNA that the exercises are aimed at preparing for “defending the interests of the Islamic Republic in case the belligerent forces intend to use Iranian territory for inflicting blows on each other.”
Tehran has condemned the Aug. 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait but has also deplored the subsequent deployment of foreign troops in the gulf region.
Iran’s president, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, has said his country would stay out of any hostilities in the Persian Gulf.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
