Iranian military drills in southern waters, with large-scale military operations, has attracted extensive coverage by the global media. On the last day, Iran intercepted two US drones.
Iranian military forces held a massive series of drills across the country’s land, sea, and airspaces. Troops, warships, military vehicles, aerial vehicles, and missile and radar equipment have participated in the drills. The Iranian army conducted the ‘attack and defense’ drills a few days after a military face-off with the US navy.
The yearly Iranian military drills ended yesterday, less than a month before Iran and international powers resume negotiations to restore the JCPOA in a sixth round of talks. The drills included the Indian Ocean and sections of the Red Sea, from the eastern the Strait of Hormuz to the north of it. The significant Strait of Hormuz canal in the Persian Gulf transports around 20% of the world’s oil consumption.
“Since we are aware that the enemy is trying to gather its required information after our forces mobilised in the area, from today we are reinforcing our efforts to monitor enemy movements that had begun days ago,” Iranian army’s high-rank commander said in an interview before the drills started.
On the last day of Iranian military drills, Tehran announced the successful interception of 2 American drones. It occurred after the drones’ violation of local airspace in Iran’s southern seas. In a statement on Tuesday, the Iranian army said its anti-aircraft division “intercepted and seriously warned” RQ-4 and MQ-9 drones.
RQ4 Global Hawk is a huge reconnaissance drone. Following unrest escalations between Tehran and Washington two years ago, Iran shot a Global Hawk in its skies. The drone has the customization capability to work as a Triton model or a BAMS-D version for marine monitoring. MQ9 Reaper, nevertheless, can carry amours.
Iranian Military Drills; Worldwide Reaction
Tehran’s military drills in early days of November has instigated large reaction across the media outlets. The scale, timing, and confrontations with US before and during the drills made it seriously meaningful for the western media.
Iran started the drill just after the announcement about thwarting an American attempt to seize an Iranian oil tanker. IRGC troops entered the tanker through heliborne and took control of it before an intervention by US cruise was foiled by Iranian speedboats.
In another confrontation with US military forces in the region, Iran intercepted two high-profile drones flying in Iranian aerospace. Iranian military drills were in fact a signal by Tehran to show its fierce response to any potential transgression.
The drills, by the way, has another meaningful significance. Tehran launched the drill just after announcing the decision to turn back to the nuclear negotiations. The Iranian military drills seem to have been a message about Tehran’s alternatives despite prioritizing diplomacy.
Reuters covered the interception of US drones and conducting the drill few weeks before the nuclear negotiations. Bloomberg also noted that Iran intercepted the drones and “seriously warned” them about the move.
The American Newsweek detailed the large scale of the drill in a specific report. The magazine said Iran launched Missiles, torpedoes and drones following American arms test in the Persian Gulf. The Hill also reported Iran’s interception attempt and published Centcom’s response.
In Germany, the weekly Spiegel says Iran’s approach is to secure its territories and has no threats for regional states. Israeli i24 referred to the exit warning Iran issued to American drones during the military drills in Eastern Hurmuz.
Aljazeera, Asharq AL-awsat, Sky news, Haaretz, and Almenar made separate reportages concerning the Iranian military drills in Persian Gulf region.
