Iran's armed forces spent four days in extensive drills on Wednesday that many believe are largely preparations for how the country could respond to an attack by the US, Israel or a combination of its nuclear facilities.
The Brigadier Gen. Mohammad-Nazar Azimi, head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Najaf Ashraf West headquarters, has hailed the national drills as including “new weapons and equipment”.
Azimi also said the exercises would test the capabilities of Iran's Basij paramilitary forces, which are tasked with maintaining domestic security.
The war games seem aimed not only at demonstrating Iran's ability to respond and defend against an attack from outside the country, but also to ensure that the Basij prepared for any domestic uprising against the country's Islamic clerical rulers who might be overthrown. attack
Some Iranian analysts critical of the government who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity said the drills could be a show of force by Iran, encouraged by the dramatic changes in the balance of power in the Middle East – with Israel heavily barring Iranian-backed groups from entering Gaza and Lebanonand longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad takes over by rebel forces.
Iranian state media
Dr. Yasser Ershadmanesh, a conservative analyst who lectures at the University of Law and International Relations in Tehran, told CBS News on Wednesday that the “IRGC must have this military drill to show them that Iran ready in every way.”
Ershadmanesh said that Israel and its Western allies were putting pressure on Tehran and that they were posing an “imminent threat…”
Iran's leaders appear to be concerned that President-elect Donald Trump, once he returns to office on January 20, will significantly increase that pressure by imposing further economic sanctions and possibly by supporting an Israeli military attack on Iran's nuclear and or missile facilities.
Trump and his close advisers have been discussing options to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons – something the president has said he would not allow.
Iranian state media
Iranian officials have long said they do not intend to pursue nuclear weapons, but since Trump pulled the US out of the international nuclear deal with Tehran during his first term in office, Iran has been stable. increase their nuclear enrichment programsmoving the country closer to the possibility of making an atomic bomb.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Trump and his team have discussed the possibility of preemptive airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities as part of that planning.
One of the main features of the ongoing military exercise “Great Prophet 19” has been an air attack on the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran, with fictional strikes seeing an enemy hit the facility with a bunker-buster bomb – the type of weapon Israel or the US would use if they targeted Iran's underground nuclear operations.
Iran's semi-official SNN news agency said the ongoing exercise began on January 4 and involves air, land and sea forces and military systems, and is intended to test domestic air defense systems. Iran, including several different short and medium ones. – missile range.
Among the weapons being tested in the drills is the Dezful surface-to-air missile system, which is an improved version of the Russian-made Tor M1 system. The system can fire up to two rockets simultaneously from mobile launch vehicles and is designed to shoot down aircraft or ballistic missiles.
IRGC spokesman Brigadier Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini previously said that the exercise would also have an electronic warfare aspect.
