TEHRAN -- The Iranian Army launched a series of missile maneuvers in central Iran on Saturday.

The exercise codenamed Beit-ul-Muqaddas 27 was held in a desert area in Kashan County, Isfahan Province, and saw the successful test-firing of missiles which hit predetermined targets.

Iranian air defense forces successfully shot mock enemy drones flying over the Arak nuclear facilities.

The operations included the creation of unpredicted critical situations over parts of the air defense layers of the Khondab nuclear site (the Arak heavy water reactor).

During the war game, a number of unmanned aviation vehicles entered the protected area’s airspace when they were detected by the radars and put under heavy fire to be completely destroyed.

“The final stage of the drills to be held in [the central city of] Isfahan will feature all units of the ground forces,” Army Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said.

He added that the ground forces are displaying their might by staging the maneuvers and will show that “we will nip in the bud any aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The Beit-ul-Muqaddas 27 drill began in three locations on May 21 and will end on May 27.

The Iranian Army’s ground forces successfully held war game in central Isfahan Province in May 2014. That drill marked the 26th anniversary of the liberation of the southwestern city of Khorramshahr during Iraq’s imposed war against Iran in the 1980s.

SP/PA