Tehran, Iran – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tested long-range missiles and drones against land and sea targets in the fourth demonstration of a military force in Iran in two weeks amid tensions with the United States.
The IRGC on Saturday fired long ballistic missiles that traveled 1,800km (1,118 miles) and hit artificial targets in the North Indian Ocean.
“Selecting a wide range of long-range missiles to hit marine targets demonstrates whether the enemies of the Islamic Republic will harbor any ill will towards our national interests, maritime trade routes or our land, they will be targeted and destroyed by missiles, “said Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the armed forces.
“We have no expectation of any attack, but we will declare with this drill that any invaders to our country will be attacked with full force and in the shortest possible time.”
IRGC chief executive Hossein Salami said Saturday that one of the goals of an elite armed group is to be able to target “enemy warships” including aircraft carriers.
Ioran held an arms exercise involving ballistic missiles and drones in the central desert [Imamedia via AP]
On Friday, the IRGC fired dozens of “next-generation” missiles from an undisturbed location in desert areas in central Iran shown in videos broadcast by state broadcasts to meet their land targets.
“This is the sound of the oar of a large number of IRGC ballistic missiles, which this time are equipped with accessible warheads and can be directed outside the Earth’s atmosphere,” a state broadcast spokesman said. how a missile warranty was launched behind it.
Shortly afterwards, the IRGC also tested weapons, or “suicide drones”, which were found to have hit a number of ground targets.
Tensions with the US
The fourth demonstration of Iran’s military force in the new year, the IRGC drill comes after two months of renewed conflict with the administration of US President Donald Trump that goes out around the anniversary of January 3 from the assassination of General Iran by the United States.
Qassem Soleimani, who led the IRGC’s foreign operations branch, was killed in a Trump-ordered drone strike in Baghdad last year.
In the past two months, the U.S. has detonated strategically capable nuclear bombers across the Middle East and has set up an airline carrier in the region to “prevent” a possible response. to be in Iran.
On the other hand, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that the US is trying to “make war for war”.
The Trump administration has only strengthened its “maximum pressure” campaign, which began after the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was dropped by world powers in 2018, before President Joe Biden stepped down. to the White House on 20 January.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s shipping, aerospace and aviation industries.
On Thursday, on the second day of a naval drill by Iran’s army, workers – and were captured on camera – spotted a foreign submarine that left the scene abruptly after receiving warnings. The submarine appeared to be American.
As part of the drill, the army introduced Iran’s largest armored ship into their fleet, fired torpedoes from local submarines, and performed the work of special forces.
On January 8, the IRGC unveiled a large underground missile center on the Gulf coast which it described as one of “many” of those centers.
Earlier days, Iran’s army held the first ever drill for locally made drones in the northern Semnan region, which involved air targeting and target destruction by using air missiles into the air, hitting ground targets, and using suicide drones.
‘Not looking to commit a crime’
The Iranian state broadcaster posted pictures of missiles fired at two U.S. bases in Iraq last year in response to the murder of Soleimani on Friday night for the first time.
In the film, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC’s aerospace department, is seen in an operating room where he issues the order to set fire to the missiles that damaged the foundations of the U.S., but without any death.
“We fire the missiles one after the other so people can get away. We’re not looking to commit a crime, “he said, calling Trump a” criminal. “
Hajizadeh was also recently interviewed, in which he said that 13 missiles were fired at the bases and that the U.S. was very vigilant but did not know where Iran would go on strike.
He also said then – Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi had been told “out of respect” that US targets would be hit by Iranian missiles – his whereabouts are unknown – just half an hour before the strike. .
Hajizadeh said Iranian missiles killed an unknown number of U.S. soldiers, saying the Americans “took the dead out of the rubble, but evacuated the Iraqis.” ” at first.
“We had read 400 bullets just for those first few times,” he said of Iran’s prospect of a possible U.S. retaliation, adding that Iran could face “unsustainable damage”. all U.S. bases in the region were fired by firing 500 missiles simultaneously.