Commander: Iran’s Ground Force to Stage Drills in December

Iranian Ground Force Commander Lieutenant General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced that his forces are due to stage massive wargames in December, adding that the Ground Force is also due to unveil two new weapons and equipment by the end of the current Iranian year (on March 20).
“The drills will be staged in the second half of the (Iranian) month of Azar (late December) to display the Ground Force’s combat capabilities for fighting enemies’ threats,” Pourdastan said, addressing a forum in the Northeastern city of Mashhad on Wednesday.

He also announced the Ground Force’s plan to unveil a 32-mm sniper rifle and a cannoned personnel-carrier, and said they will possibly be unveiled by the end of this year.

In relevant remarks late September, Pourdastan said that his forces had completed the phase of studies and designing of a cannoned personnel-carrier and a 32-mm sniper rifle, and are now building them.

Also in September, Pourdastan announced that the Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) plan to stage joint maneuvers in Southeastern Iran in the near future.

“A joint military exercise by the Army and the IRGC will be held in the second half of the current Iranian year (September 23, 2014- March 20, 2015),” General Pourdastan told reporters.

He noted that the Army-IRGC joint military maneuvers would be held in an area covering 25,000 square kilometers from the Northern parts of Sistan and Balouchestan province in Southeastern Iran to the coasts of the Sea of Oman down the same province.

Tehran has repeatedly stated that its military might poses no threat to other countries, reiterating that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.

The last Army-IRGC joint drills were conducted in November 2013 and were codenamed Modafe’an-e Aseman-e Velayat 4 (Defenders of the Velayat Skies 4). The exercises were carried out in Northeastern, Southeastern, Southern and Central Iran.

Iran’s Army and IRGC hold regular wargames to practice combat tactics and also test new home-made military tools, equipment and weapons in action.

The Iranian Army has recently test-fired different types of newly-developed missiles and torpedoes and tested a large number of its home-made weapons, tools and equipments, including submarines, military ships, artillery, choppers, aircraft, UAVs and air defense and electronic systems, during massive military drills.

Defense analysts and military observers say that Iran’s wargames and its advancements in weapons production have proved as a deterrent factor, specially at a time of heightened threats by the US and Israel.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country’s military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.