Iran to start "extensive" military maneuvers inthe Gulf on Thursday

Iran said on Wednesday that it will stage "extensive" military maneuvers in the Gulf waters starting from Thursday, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

Commander-in-Chief of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps ( IRGC) Major General Seyed Yahya Rahim Safavi made the announcement as U.S.-led military maneuvers aimed at blocking the smuggling of nuclear weapons material and arms proliferation were being held in the Gulf waters.

The upcoming Iranian war games -- codenamed "The Great Prophet 2" -- are due to be carried out till Nov. 11 in the Gulf waters, the Sea of Oman and 14 provinces of the country, Safavi told a press conference.

The maneuvers will be staged by the IRGC's air, ground and navy forces as well as the Basij militia troops, he said.

In April, Iran launched a large-scale military exercise, the biggest in years. During the game, with the codename of "The Great Prophet," Iran said that it tested advanced weapons including missiles and torpedoes.

On Sunday, the U.S. navy said that vessels from the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Australia and Bahrain began a naval training exercise off the Iranian coast in the Gulf aimed at blocking smuggling of nuclear weapons and arms proliferation.

The maneuvers were being held under the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush in May, 2003. Bahrain's participation marks the first time a Gulf nation joins a PSI exercise.

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham on Monday urged foreign military forces not to damage Gulf peace, saying durable peace and security would be restored through collective cooperation of all countries of the region.

However, Iran was not bothered about the military maneuvers because the country "is powerful in all fields," the official IRNA news agency quoted Elham as saying.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not accept threats. Iran is a strong and powerful state and will not take maneuvers as a threat," he said.

Source: Xinhua