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‘The Great Prophet 17’ military drills on the coast of the Persian Gulf were launched on December 20th and were completed in five days, on December 25.
The exercise involved the ground, naval and air forces forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and units of the Basij Resistance Force. They were held in the provinces of Khuzestan, Bushehr and Hormozgan.
Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri claimed that these exercises “were designed to respond to threats made in recent days by the Zionist regime.”
“The military exercise … is a serious warning to Zionist regime officials,” said IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami. “Make the slightest mistake, we will cut off their hand.”
16 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles were fired across the country’s south at the close of military drills. The missiles were identified as Emad, Ghadr, Sejjil, Zalzal, Dezful and Zolfaghar. Their ranges vary between 350km and 2,000km (220-1,250 miles). The fires were claimed successful.
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The missiles hit one target. According to the footage, the target of the strike was an object that looks like the Israeli nuclear research center in Dimona. At the same time, 10 drones simultaneously hit other targets.
“Sixteen missiles aimed and annihilated the chosen target. In this exercise, part of the hundreds of Iranian missiles capable of destroying a country that dared to attack Iran were deployed,” Major General Hossein Salami added.
Also, the IRGC armed forces demonstrated the installation for the multiple launch of barrage ammunition, similar to the Shahid-136 drones. The system is based on a truck and may carry 5 kamikaze drones.
The drills came soon after the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy received military aircraft, swimmer delivery vehicles and a destroyer which had been modernized. The equipment was handed over to Iranian naval forces during a ceremony at Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
