Iran to stage Gulf naval maneuvers

Iranian naval and air forces will begin their latest large-scale military maneuvers in the Gulf next week, a naval official announced in Tehran yesterday.

The five days of war games will take place in a 20,000-sq km area near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Colonel Hamid Reza Pourdadash said.

The Iranian Air Force is expected to use Russian-made Sukhoi-24 bombs during the operations, said Pourdadash, quosted by the official news agency, IRNA. Some 50,000 troops are scheduled total part in the five-day exercises, dubbed Vahdat (unity) - 77, which will also involve marine units.

Navel commander Abbas Mohtaj said the exercises would also use submarines purchased from Russia in the early 1990s.

Rear-Admiral Ali-Akhbar Ahmadina, commander of the navel forces of the elite Revolutionary Guard, said last week that the exercise sought to send a message of peace.