Iran's Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced on Sunday 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 on Sunday.
He noted that the Army-IRGC joint military maneuvers will be held in an area coverring 25,000 sqare 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.