Iran conducts military exercises near Hormuz
QAMISLI, Syria (North Press) – Iranian army started yesterday, maneuvers in the southeast of the country, near the Strait of Hormuz, which an official spokesman described as a “serious warning.”
In a statement, the National Iranian Radio and Television said Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, and Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Forces, are participating in the maneuvers over an area of more than one million square kilometers east of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to the AP.
“The resistance finds an opportunity to win every time it becomes under pressure,” Iranian ambassador to Syria, Mehdi Sobhani, said yesterday.
Sending fuel from Iran to Syria and then to Lebanon shows that the Resistance Front creates an opportunity from any threat, and that if it decides to do something, the enemies will not be able to halt it, Tasnim News Agency cited Sobhani as saying.
“Every time we were pressured by the enemy, we found a new solution and opportunity to win over the enemy,” on whether Iran really broke the sanctions on Syria by shipping fuel to Syria which was then transferred to Lebanon by oil tankers, he said.
“We have full cooperation with the Syrian government in this regard and we will not give up any effort to help Damascus overcome these sanctions,” he added.
Iran officially took the side with the Syrian government at the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. It announced sending the military advisors to support the government forces in fighting against the Syrian opposition factions.
Iran continues to recruit Syrian fighters within the rank of its affiliated factions, following a policy of incentives by providing them many offers, and taking advantage of the difficult living and economic conditions that Syria is going through.
He noted, “When we were at the height of the war on terror, the US administration imposed the toughest economic sanctions,” Tasnim reported.
On Wednesday, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it thwarted a US forces attempt to pirate an Iranian oil tanker in the Sea of Oman.
The US Department of Defense immediately denied the Iranian allegations, describing it as “inaccurate and false.”
“I have seen the Iranian allegations…they are completely false and untrue…that is a false claim,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Meanwhile the United States accuses Iran of circumventing the sanctions imposed on the oil sector by exporting crude to countries such as China, Venezuela and Syria, where it has announced more than once the arrest of tankers carrying Iranian oil destined for other countries.