Iran Fires Cruise Missiles During Naval Drill
Iran fired cruise missiles Thursday as part of a naval drill in the Gulf of Oman, state media reported, amid heightened tensions with the US.
Various kinds of
surface-to-surface cruise missiles successfully hit their targets in the gulf
and northern part of the Indian Ocean, the report said.
"Enemies should know that any
violation and invasion of Iranian marine borders will be targeted by the cruise
missiles from both coast and sea," said Adm. Hamzeh Ali Kaviani, spokesman
for the exercise.
Images released by the
navy showed the missiles being launched and hitting their targets, The
Associated Press reported.
The two-day drill began
Wednesday when the country's navy inaugurated its largest military vessel. The
exercise takes place amid heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear program and a
US pressure campaign against Tehran.
In recent weeks, Iran
has increased its military drills. On Saturday, the paramilitary Revolutionary
Guard held a naval parade in the Arabian Gulf and a week earlier Iran held a
massive drone maneuver across half the country.
President Donald Trump
in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from Iran’s nuclear deal, in which Tehran
had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of
economic sanctions. Trump cited Iran’s ballistic missile program among other
issues in withdrawing.
Following the US's
re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, Tehran gradually and publicly abandoned the
deal’s limits on its nuclear development as a series of escalating incidents
pushed the two countries to the brink of war at the beginning of the year.
