[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's military has kicked off new war games in the strategic Gulf waters -- the country's second military show in less than a month, as the Iranian President announced that new sanctions would not stop his country from resuming its nuclear program.
State TV says the exercise -- which started Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman -- will last eight days and cover about 97,000 square miles (250,000 square kilometers) of Iranian territorial waters.
The exercises reflect Iran's desire to flex its military muscle at a time of a deepening standoff with the West over Tehran's controversial nuclear program. The West suspects it's aimed at building a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard held five-day maneuvers in late April in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz -- the waterway for around 40 percent of the world's oil and gas supplies. |