Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari in a Tuesday press conference said the massive naval war game codenamed ‘Velayat 94’ will cover an area as extensive as three million square kilometers in Eastern part of Hormuz Strait, the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean to the 10th parallel north.
“The war game has been going on since 21 January, and the forces have been deployed to their positions and will begin their tactical maneuver on Wednesday,” said Sayyri, noting various kinds of missiles will be launched at the final stage and the war game will wrap up with a naval parade.
The Navy Commander said the objective of Velayat 94 war game is to demonstrate the capability and authority of Iran in maintaining security in the seas.
“The navy’s selected units including submarines, destroyers, missile cruisers, auxiliary cruisers, marine brigadiers, electronic warfare, health and intelligence units are participating in the drill,” he said.
Sayyari noted the significance of the Indian Ocean for transferring goods and energy, saying “full security must be maintained in this region, otherwise pirating activities would also happen in this area as they are happening in the Gulf of Aden.”
Admiral Sayyari further added that Iran’s navy has escorted 3000 trade ships in the past eight years and rescued 25 vessels of various countries from the clutches of pirates.
“In this war game, we will exercise how to maintain security in the northern part of the Indian Ocean,” he said.
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