TEHRAN - The Zulfaqar 1401 military exercises got underway early on Friday by the Iranian Army with a series of naval exercises in the Sea of Oman.

The large-scale joint military exercises span from the eastern part of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz to the northern tip of the Indian Ocean.

Preparation to defend Iran’s coasts took up the most of the first several hours of the maneuver with the primary message of "self-confidence, power, and sustainable security". 

Brigadier General Alireza Sheikh, the drill's spokesperson, stated on Friday morning that "the Navy's rangers used updated guns and equipment to carry out the operation and performed current tactics and defensive scenarios in the darkness of night."

"The operation lasted until daybreak, and the naval forces deployed Dehlavieh, TOW, and shoulder-fired Misagh missiles to counter the (mock) enemy's attack on coastal lines," he explained.

The spokesman said that the forces were successful in utilizing heavy artillery fire to attack the simulated enemy's positions and stop them from advancing.

In a news conference on Thursday, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, Deputy Chief of the Army for Coordination, said the drills are aimed at enhancing planning abilities, conducting, directing, and analyzing joint operations, and synergizing the defense capability of the Army's four main branches.

Strategic bombers of the Air Force are providing logistical support. Infantry and armored troops of the ground force, air defense systems, subsurface, surface, and flying vessels, and rangers of the Navy are taking part in the drills.

Sayyari asserted that another goal of the exercises is to improve the abilities of commanders and soldiers to use the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, drones, electronic, and cyber warfare equipment.

He added that the presence of extra-regional countries in the region and warmongers have always brought nothing except insecurity, war, and occupation to the West Asia region. 

The rear admiral went on to say that the large-scale drills will serve as a reminder to the regional states of their existing capabilities and the fact that they do not need any outside powers to ensure regional security.

In November 2021, the Iranian Army performed Zulfaqar 1400 drills in the same location, demonstrating its defensive capabilities based on locally manufactured equipment.

“Drills are warning to Israel and other extra-regional states”

The commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Major General Gholam-Ali Rashid, warned adversaries against any mistake against Iran.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the exercises on Friday, General Rashid declared that the Zionist regime is a threat to Iran and all other nations in the region.

The commander warned the neighboring nations against partnering with Israel to jeopardize Iran's security by giving the regime bases or facilities. 

In such a situation “those bases as well as the starting point of aggression against Iran, which is the occupying regime, will be the target of our armed forces’ attacks,” he cautioned. 

He said that since the Armed Forces view exercises as "half war" or even a "war before war," they take them very seriously.

"By conducting drills, we want the adversaries to know that in the event of any miscalculation, they would undoubtedly pay greater expenses than successes," the general asserted. 

He reaffirmed that "our armed forces will fight with a hybrid force which will have a devastating power" against any extra-regional enemies.