Iran Launches Naval Exercise in Gulf of OmanIran's naval forces on Sunday launched a maneuver in the Gulf of Oman with an aim to raise combat readiness against possible threats, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.The four-day exercise, code-named "Ghadir 79," is to cover the stretch of Iran's territorial waters extending from the Strait of Hormuz to the Iran-Pakistan border, the report said. According to Admiral Esmaeel Sadeqian Moqaddam, commander of the third naval zone of Iran's army, the major aim of the maneuver is to raise combat preparedness of the vessel and air-borne units against possible real operations in the Gulf of Oman. He said the assessment of the sonar systems' capability, raising combat readiness of frogmen, paratroopers and senior commanders in planning, guiding and controlling the vessel and flight units as well as training of young naval personnel are among other objectives of the war game. Frogmen of the first, second and third zones of Iran's naval forces will conduct a series of exercises during the maneuver, including searching for mines and underwater explosives. Moreover, the operations will feature shootings from surface targets, training of parachutists and skydivers from helicopters, frogmen's surface-to-sea and sea-to-surface attacks on vessel units and air-to-sea attacks by the air forces. |
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