TEHRAN, Iran – Iran on Tuesday launched a massive, two-day air defense exercise in the country’s vast central desert, state TV reported in the latest show of force by the Islamic Republic.
The report said that both the army and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard were taking part in the annual exercise, called “Velayat”. It said elite air force and air defense units as well as the airfield of the Guard would participate.
Iran regularly conducts such exercises and says they assess the war preparedness of troops and demonstrate the country’s military capabilities.
Earlier in October, Iran conducted an exercise near its border with AzerbaijanWhile displaying military capabilities near a neighbour, it is increasingly skeptical of its relations with the West and Israel. Azerbaijan and Israel have strengthened their military alliance in recent months, with Israeli-supplied high-tech drones helping Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh last year.
The region continues to hold an edge over Iran’s growing nuclear program. Negotiations in Vienna to revive Tehran’s now-torn 2015 accord with world powers have been stalled since June, with no date set for their resumption.
In the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran substantially limited its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. In 2018, then US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement, raising tensions in the wider Middle East and triggering a series of attacks and incidents.
With Vienna talks stalling, Iran has breached limits set by the nuclear deal and is enriching small amounts of uranium to its nearest level for weapons purity as its stockpile continues to increase. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
