TEHRAN — Iran's armed forces carried out a series of naval drills on Monday, in what officials said was a show of "power and preparedness" in safeguarding the Persian Gulf waters.
Dubbed the "Parade of Authority," the exercise marked Persian Gulf National Day and involved the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regular army and the national police, as their units came together in the strategic Khor Musa channel, near the southwestern energy-rich port city of Mahshahr.
During inauguration speeches aired by the national broadcaster, commanders and local officials referenced Iran's mid-April attack on Israel, in which the IRGC launched over 300 drones and missiles in retaliation for an Israel-blamed strike that killed seven senior officers inside the Iranian Consulate in Damascus earlier in the month.
"Our forces will not allow any foreign country, especially the Zionist regime, to make an appearance in the Persian Gulf area," warned IRGC Adm. Mohammad Sharif Shirali, while another commander spoke of "darkness and hardship befalling any aggressor who takes any wrong step in the Persian Gulf."
