Speedboats of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Amid the ongoing deployment of military reinforcement on its border with Azerbaijan, Iran did not forget about the propaganda tool while threatening the potential enemy.
On October 4, a number of epic video of the Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) were widely spread on social media.
One of the videos demonstrates about 4,000 IRGC speed boats that were deployed in the port of Astara on the Caspian Sea on the border with Azerbaijan. Such a reinforcement could play a strategic role in case of a direct confrontation. These IRGC boats could quickly reach Azerbaijani oil facilities in the Caspian Sea.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to deploy tank and artillery units on the border with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.
Conquerors of Khyber poster. Click to see full-size image
Tehran has recently finished the wide-ranging military exercise that was named The Khyber Conquerors and was launched on October 1 near the border with Azerbaijan.
More footage of the exercise was recently released.
Some new video from #Iran‘s Conquerors of Kheybar military exercise near the border with #Azerbaijan. pic.twitter.com/eha0RSSQBr
— Alex kennedy (@Alexkennedy30) October 4, 2021
The exercises followed shortly after another set of drills in the same region about which very few details have been released.
Tehran is deeply concerned of the support to Baku provided by its partners like Turkey and Israel.
Ayatollah Khamenei claimed:
The events that are taking place in the northwest of Iran & in some neighboring countries should be resolved based on the concept of banning the presence of any foreign military. Everyone should realize that if you dig a hole for your brothers, you’ll be the 1st to fall into it. pic.twitter.com/p3LpXvuMpU
— Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei | سید علی خامنهای (@Rahbar_Khamenei) October 3, 2021
The supply of Israeli strike drones likely caused such a harsh reaction of the Azerbaijani neighbor. The deployment of Israeli weapons in Azerbaijan would allow Tel Aviv to threaten more Iranian facilities, including the nuclear ones.
Azerbaijani President with Israeli Harop drones
During the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Israeli Harop loitering munitions were actively used to target Russian-made Armenian air defense systems. This is an important experience, taking into account that Iran also has Russian ADS in service.
Click to see full-size image
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva rejected the accusations of the presence of foreign forces, like Israeli intelligence officers, on the border with Iran. According to her, these statements are as baseless as the rumors about Syrian mercenaries’ participation in the last Karabakh war.
However, the active role of Turkish-backed militants and Israeli specialist in the war was proved by numerous reports.
Meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan arrived in Tehran for a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahiyan.
The talks will take place following the reports of the Islamic Republic readiness to launch military operations against Azerbaijan in case of attack on the Armenian Syunik region.
Click to see full-size image
The military tensions on the Iran-Azerbajani border followed the meeting of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The situation in the Southern Caucasus was likely one of the top priority topics for discussion of the two leaders. However, the results of the meeting were not revealed and were likely disappointing.
Thus, following the Iranian show of force, Azerbaijan and Turkey will hold a military exercise in Azerbaijan near the border with Iran. According to the Turkish Defence Ministry, the joint exercises will take place on 5-8 October. Titled “Unshakable Brotherhood,” they will be conducted in order to “develop friendship, cooperation and coordination between the Turkish and Azerbaijani Land Forces.”
In addition to the joint Azerbaijani-Turkish exercises in Nakhichevan, joint military exercises with Georgian, Azerbaijani and Turkish servicemen “Eternity-2021” were launched in Georgia on October 4.
