Drills Spokesman: Velayat 91 Drill Has Message Of Peace, Friendship

Bandar Abbas, Dec 29, IRNA – Spokesman of Velayat '91 Naval Drills said here Friday despite enemies' propagations, the message of these drills for our country's neighbors is a message of peace and friendship. The spokesman of the highly expertise Velayat '91 Naval Drills made the comments in interview with the dispatched IRNA reporter on the sidelines of the 1st day of the drills, adding, 'The main objective of holding these drills in addition to maintaining the defense readiness of the IRI Navy for confronting any possible threat of the enemy is sending the message of peace and friendship for the regional countries, including to our neighbors.' Admiral Amir Rastegari added, 'In Phase One of the Velayat '91 Naval Drills the supposedly invading forces' warships (orange color), including the heavy surface vessels and their submarines, after penetration into the entrance passages and aiming to invade the Iranian mainland, face the Iranian forces (blue color) as they were approaching the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf waters, but they had ignored the fact that the Iranian forces relying on their precise information and second by second navigation had been fully aware of their movements.' Admiral Rastegari pointing out that the Iranian forces appropriate with the movements of the invading forces resort to and implement modern and innovative tactics, reiterating, 'The 23rd Fleet of the IRI Navy, comprised of Jamaran Destroyer and the Bushehr helicopter carrier, which are on a foreign mission patrolling the Bab el-Mandab Strait and the surrounding free waters of that strait monitor the entire movements and acts of the invading force and dispatch the related information to the naval drills' headquarters.' He added, 'This naval drill is held at the Strait of Hormuz, the Oman Sea, and north of the Indian Ocean up to 18 degrees north, at an area which is over one million square kilometers vast for a tend day period.' The Velayat '91 Naval Drill started on Friday morning, December 28th with the secret code 'Ya Hossein (A)' (O Hussain – P) of the Commander of Iran's Navy Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari in an area between the Strait of Hormuz and 18 degrees to the north of the Indian Ocean. Some other Arab media referring to the Tuesday session of some Persian Gulf heads of states in Bahrain's capital city, Manama, and posing the baseless claim of Iran's interference in internal affairs of those countries, have somehow tried to link that PGCC Summit meeting with Iran's naval drills. The continuation of the naval drills in the upcoming days and putting on display of the defensive might of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy in the next phases of the drills it is expected that the foreign media would present various more reports and analyses on this major defensive military practice of Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasized the need for safeguarding peace and security in the sensitive and strategic Persian Gulf region by the regional countries, believing that the region's security cannot be ensured by alien forces. According to political and military affairs analysts, the presence of the ever since the alien forces naval forces' presence in the waters of the Persian Gulf and so long as the military presence of the foreign forces in the region would continue, expectation of establishment of full security in the region would be merely a dream for the entire regional nations./end