TEHRAN – General Aziz Nasirzadeh, deputy chairman of the chiefs of staff of the Iranian armed forces, announced on Wednesday that plans are afoot to hold joint military exercises between the Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

He said the IRGC and the Army are not separated entities. “Each of these two forces performs different assigned missions and we have passed the issue that a person is a member of the IRGC, the army or a member of another corps,” General Nasirzadeh said, according to Iranian media.

The brigadier general added, “The policies of the chiefs of staff of the armed forces are on the same lines, and the commanders of the Army and the IRGC also follow the same line. In fact, there is a strong alliance between the armed forces. And the Army and the IRGC are a divine army that operates under the banner of the Leader of the Revolution.”

He considered the unity of the armed forces as the reason for the strength of Iran’s deterrence power.

“We have seen that guests from both sides participated in Army or IRGC exercises, but the plan is based on planning and defining exercises jointly with the presence of the Army and the IRGC. This will be done in the future with the participation of units from both sides. Of course, we witnessed that in the joint exercise that was conducted with the presence of Iran, Russia and China, our navy was composed of the Army and the IRGC,” he continued. 

During coordinated naval exercises in the northern Indian Ocean, the armed forces of Iran, China, and Russia have conducted a variety of tactics and operations, including rescuing hijacked vessels.

In March, the Iranian, Chinese, and Russian navies participated in the major stage of the 2023 Maritime Security Belt naval drills in the northern Indian Ocean.

Rear Admiral Mostafa Tajoddini, a spokesman for the exercises, said that the naval forces of the three nations had trained under realistic circumstances in a coordinated effort to free two trade boats that had been seized in international seas by pirates.

An Iranian Navy SH-3 helicopter was dispatched for reconnaissance and search after the two target liners sent mayday signals to the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) of Chabahar port in southeast Iran, he added.

The Iranian Navy’s “Sahand” destroyer then acted as the command ship to undertake the operation.

China hailed the recent joint naval exercises with Russia and Iran in the Sea of Oman, saying the drills boosted the ability of their navies to conduct diversified maritime missions.

The military drills further deepened friendship and practical cooperation among the three countries, Chinese defense ministry spokesman Tan Kefei told a news briefing.

Senior Colonel Tan said the three nations sent forces including 12 ships, special operations and diving units to participate in the drills.

China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval exercises in the Sea of Oman from March 15-19.