Iran test-fired ballistic missiles at a maritime target across the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, a day before two US B-52 strategic bombers overflew Israel and the Persian Gulf in the latest escalation of tensions between the two adversaries.
Iran has announced military manoeuvres in the Gulf of Oman for Tuesday — the day before Joe Biden is sworn in as US president.
Army Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari told the Tasnim news agency on Monday that the drills would begin on Tuesday around the port city of Makran in eastern Baluchistan province, near the border with Pakistan.
He added that the drills would practice a “rapid and decisive response” to hostile threats and simulate major strikes on hypothetical enemy coast. On Saturday Iran test-fired ballistic surface-to-surface missiles, hitting a seaborne target at a range of 1,100 miles (1,800 km) across the Gulf of Oman in the Indian Ocean.
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REUTERS / WANA NEWS AGENCY
Iran's military exercise in the Gulf of Oman
Photos showed Heidari aboard the Iranian military “port ship” Makran, a converted tanker with a landing pad and a complement of five helicopters.
Iran holds annual military exercises. Those in 2017 took place in early February, days after newly-elected President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Tehran as he pulled out of the 2015 JDPOA or Iran nuclear deal negotiated with his predecessor Barack Obama.
The Gulf of Oman lies just east of the…
