Last week, Iran held multi-day naval exercises in the Persian Gulf in which a mock US aircraft carrier was attacked using a variety of missiles and speed boats. The drills, named the "Great Prophet 9," in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, was not only covered by Iran’s print and online media but also received extensive coverage on national television. The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Mohammad Ali Jaffair praised the exercises, as did 220 members of parliament in a joint statement.
In an editorial in Reformist Shargh Daily, Gen. Ramezan Sharif, the head of public relations for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), explained the reason for the exercises and why they were made public to the media coverage.