TEHRAN – The Iranian Army’s Ground Forces announced Wednesday the start of military exercises involving various units in the central province of Isfahan. 

The drills, codenamed Authority 1401, are held in Isfahan’s Nasrabad region and will last for two days.

“The drills will be held for two days in the public area of Nasrabad with the presence of infantry, armored, artillery, air force, drone, engineering, airborne, electronic warfare units and with the support of air force planes,” General Karim Cheshak, spokesman for the drills, told ISNA. 

He added, “The aim of these exercises is to assess and raise the level of combat readiness of the Army's ground force units in the face of modern threats.”

In August, all four branches of Iran’s Army launched joint drone drills using nearly 150 drones of various types.

The drills lasted for two days and covered all of Iran’s territories. 

Rear Admiral Habibullah Sayyari, the assistant to the Army commander for coordination, had announced that during the exercises, modern drones that were produced at the Ministry of Defense in cooperation with knowledge-based companies were tested, Al Alam reported.

The military official added, “In these drills, accuracy, armament strength, flight continuity, guidance and control capabilities, and combat capabilities of these drones will be tested.”

According to Sayyari, the joint drills of the drones by all four army units and the joint air defense headquarters took place for the first time in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman and “from the south to the east, west, north and center of the country.”

At the time Sayyari confirmed that more than 150 drones participated in the drills. He added this number was only a small part of the force of the drills by the four forces of the Army that carry out various reconnaissance, surveillance and combat missions.