TEHRAN – Iranian military aircraft gave warning to two foreign warshipsnear the country’s southern waters on Monday, forcing the vessels to leavethe zone of an ongoing war game, a spokesperson said.link>link>link>link>
In the early hours of a large-scale exercise that the Iranian Army launchedin south and southeast of the country on Monday, two warships belonging tothe coalition forces approached the drill zone to monitor the Iranian Navyunits, ranking Army commander and spokesperson for the war game, RearAdmiral Lower Half Mahmoud Mousavi said.
According to the spokesperson, assigned to brief reporters on the drill’sdevelopments, after Army drones detected the two intruding vessels duringthe war game, patrol and reconnaissance aircraft flew over the coalitionwarships, gave them warnings and forced them to leave the drill zone.
The war game, codenamed Muhammad Rasulullah-5 (Muhammad, the Messenger ofGod), covers vast areas south of Iran, mainly the coastline stretching tothe southeastern Makran region, by the sea of Oman.
Forces from the Army Ground Force, Air Force, Navy, and Air Defense havetaken part in the joint military drill.
During the first day of the war game, combat choppers of the Army GroundForce Airborne Division opened heavy fire on the hypothetical enemy’s navalvessels approaching the coast.
Air Force fighter jets also carried out sorties along the Oman Sea coastalareas to support the troops in ground operations.
Commanders say the exercise is aimed at promoting the capabilities of theArmy forces and conveying the message of peace and friendship to regionalcountries.
The Iranian armed forces hold routine military drills throughout the year.