Iranian army began a large-scale exercise, dubbed "Zolfaqar-1400", in the Gulf of Oman and in parts of the Red Sea.

During the exercise, the Iranian army featured the infantry, armored units, mechanized regiments, navy, air force, and air defense.

On his account, the spokesman for the drills, General Admiral Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi said that the troops used locally produced Ababil-3, Yasir, Sadeq, Mohajer-4, and Simorgh drones. 

The top Iranian general detailed that the drill will cover an area of over one million square kilometers southeast of Iran, extending from the eastern side of the Strait of Hormuz to the northern part of the Indian Ocean, as well as part of the Red Sea.

Furthermore, Mousavi stressed that the stability of performance in the face of a growing counter-space and communications electronic warfare is one of the maneuvers' strengths.

“The drill will also include military surveillance flights in the country’s airspace and the southern part of the territorial waters”, he added.

The senior military figure affirmed that “the drill is aimed to demonstrate Iran's willingness to establish peace and friendship based on regional capabilities,” stressing that “history has shown that other foreign countries were complicit in inciting wars and destabilizing security in the West Asian region.”

On Oct. 12, the "Fatehan-e Kheybar" drills kicked off in Iran under the supervision of the Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Force, Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and provincial officials from the country's northwest, near Azerbaijan border.

The Iranian Army recently conducted a number of drills, including the "Sustainable Security 1400" drills in the Caspian sea in June, the "Sky Shield 1400" drills in May, large-scale drone war games in September, in addition to the Iranian Ground Forces' "Eghtedar 99" drill.

On his account, Brigadier General Heydari said, “the exercise will feature some of the equipment and combat capabilities of the [Army’s Ground Force] units aimed at improving combat readiness,” in Iran’s northwest.

He also said that “the exercises of our armed forces in this region and different parts of the country are based on a detailed planning and a scheduled program with the aim of testing weapons and equipment, as well as assessing the combat readiness of the armed forces across the Islamic Republic’s geography and borders.”

Earlier, Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami stressed that Iran’s strategy is defensive, saying "we will never be the initiators in any war, but we will be able to defend ourselves in case the enemy attacks."