News / Defense

Iran top general: US overflights in Persian Gulf void of operational value

Monday, 18 January 2021 11:50 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 January 2021 11:55 AM ]

Photo by US Air Force shows B-52 Stratofortress after refueling during a mission over the Middle East on January 17, 2021.

Iran’s senior military commander has downplayed the United States' most recent flight of its bombers over the Persian Gulf in a supposed show of force aimed at the Islamic Republic, saying such maneuvers instead show that the Americans are fearful of the Iranian military might.

“Flights by two American B-52 bombers over the region and their return [to their home bases] does not bear considerable operational value,” Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said on Monday.

The US has stepped up its provocative moves in the region, using B-52 bombers and its other warplanes as well as its military vessels in the waning days of President Donald Trump.

“The set of actions which they [the US] have called a display of power, indicates that they are fearful and in awe of the Islamic Republic’s defensive might,” Baqeri said.

Zarif reacts to US B-52s: We do not shy away from crushing aggressors

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran will never be intimidated by US show of force in the region.

The Iranian Armed Forces, he added, are fully prepared to defend the country’s security and interests, knowing that the enemy “is incapable of doing anything in light of the forces’ preparedness.”

Iran's military forces, including the Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), have conducted more than 10 maneuvers in recent days.

The exercises featured tests of drones in the Sea of Oman and northern Indian Ocean as well as mass launches of ballistic ground-to-ground missiles and destruction of hypothetical enemy warships.

Iran's IRGC kicks off missile, drone exercises in massive military drills

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) kicks off massive military drills in central Iran, testing its latest ballistic missiles and combat drones.

The general described the launch of the ballistic missiles that took place from a distance of 1,800 kilometers as a message, warning the enemies against trying to pose threats to Iran’s national interests.

General Baqeri said Iran will conduct massive ground exercises in the coming days.

The exercises, he noted, “indicate that the Armed Forces’ readiness to defend the country’s security and national interests stands at a very high level, and this preparedness will continue to last.”

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