Iran Navy to hold 10-day war game in Persian Gulf

By Reuters and DPA

After recent comments by Western officials in favor of an attack on Tehran's nuclear sites, Iran to launch wide-ranging military maneuver in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.

Iran's navy will launch a 10-day war game in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, state television quoted Navy Commander Habibulah Sayari as saying on Thursday.

The war game, named Velayat-90, will be carried out over an area extending from east of the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Eden, the report said.

"The maneuvers will be carried out with the intention of displaying the determination, defensive and deterrent power of the Iranian armed forces as well as relaying a message of peace and friendship in the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman and the free waters of the Indian Ocean," Sayari said.

Iran often announces its military capabilities and tests weaponry at its periodic war game in an apparent attempt to show its readiness for any strikes by Israel or the United States.

Tehran has so far denied having any plans to close the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, which is a vital transit route in the region for international oil exports.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said last week that "if the region faced a war-like situation, then everything would then become war-like."