Iran rattles sabres with air-defence exercise

TEHRAN // Iran launched an air- defence exercise yesterday aimed at sending a "strong warning" to those threatening it, a Revolutionary Guard general said.

The start of the manoeuvres, originally scheduled for early October but postponed without an explanation, was announced on the website of the Revolutionary Guards, sepahnews.com.

The drill comes against a backdrop of growing tension in the Arabian Gulf, but appears unconnected to an incident last week when two Iranian fighter jets fired on an unarmed US drone.

About 8,000 troops drawn from the ranks of the guards, the army and the Basij militia are participating in the exercise, which will last for four days and take place over an area of 850,000 square kilometres in the country's eastern regions, according to media reports.

Various missile and artillery systems as well as fighter jets and bombers will be used in the exercise, they said.

The units will also test "fixed, mobile and tactical radar devices and tactical and airborne electronic surveillance systems", said Brig Gen Farzad Esmaili, the head of the guards' air defence command.

Iran frequently conducts manoeuvres to underline its military muscle.

Such exercises have increased in recent years amid growing tensions with the West and Israeli threats of possible air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"For those who are thinking of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the exercise should be seen as a strong warning," Brig Gen Shahrokh Shahram told Iran's English-language Press TV.