The Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Army for Coordination Affairs Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced that the Iranian army would begin Sunday a large-scale exercise in the Gulf of Oman and in parts of the Red Sea.

Sayyari added that the war games, dubbed "Zolfaqar-1400", will involve forces from the Iranian Army Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, and Air Defense units.

The drill will use locally produced equipment and ammunition, including "advanced reconnaissance and combat drones with various ranges," he noted.

The top 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, the drill is aimed at elevating the combat and defense abilities of the several units “for protecting the country’s territorial integrity," he tersely stated.

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 stresses 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 attacked."