Air and naval forces participate in military exercises under the slogan "sustainable security in the shadow of deterrence

Iran begins main phase of manoeuvres in the Straits of Hormuz

photo_camera PHOTO/REUTERS - Members of the Iranian army participate in the annual military drill, dubbed "Zolphaghar 99", in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on 7 September 2020

This Thursday the joint military exercises of the Iranian Army, known as Zolfaqar-99, under the slogan "sustainable security under the defensive self-rule", began in the south of the country

Shahram Irani, the spokesman for the joint military exercises, announced the beginning of the exercises "with continuous naval patrols and monitoring of the general area in the waters where the manoeuvres are taking place, the units of the Naval Force, Air Force and Land Force of the Iranian Army, including P3F, F-27 aircraft and reconnaissance drones, have warned the transregional units to leave the area of the Zolfaqar exercises", reports the Iranian agency INRA.

Following the announcement of the start of the Zolfaqar-99 military drill, the Air Defence Force warned all the foreign drones flying near the exercise site to leave the general area of the drill, and since then there has been a change in the activity of the US drones.

The three-day exercise is being conducted over an area of two million square kilometres, covering the eastern waters of the Strait of Hormuz, the Makran coastline, the Oman Sea and the northern Indian Ocean to the 10th coordinate.

Miembros del ejército iraní disparan misiles durante el simulacro militar anual, apodado "Zolphaghar 99", en el Golfo de Omán, Irán, el 7 de septiembre de 2020

In the summer of last year, the Strait of Hormuz experienced an escalation of tension when the UK authorities denounced Iran for the capture of two oil tankers in the strait.

At the time, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard justified the arrest of the Stena Impero on the grounds that it "did not respect international maritime standards".

For his part, the UK Foreign Secretary defined these catches as "unacceptable".
This incident took place amidst tensions between Tehran and the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important and strategic maritime crossings in the world, through which a fifth of world oil exports pass.
 

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