NICOSIA — Iran is set to launch a new round of military exercises in
an effort to test its new combat doctrine using weapons systems which were apparently tested in the recent war in Lebanon.
Over the last two years, Iran has been testing a combat doctrine based
on asymmetrical warfare. The doctrine was said to include the use of small
and mobile land and sea forces to erode a much larger Western military.
In April, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
held a week-long military exercise that tested a series of anti-tank,
anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles.
Some of those weapons were believed to have been tested in the Hizbullah
war with Israel, which ended on Aug. 14. Iran has acknowledged that it
trained and equipped Hizbullah.
The Iranian military said several large-scale exercises would begin on
Aug. 19 in the southeast. The military said the exercises would consist of
several stages and introduce an unspecified defense doctrine meant to
counter a U.S. strike.
"The maneuvers are aimed at introducing Iran's new defensive doctrine,"
military spokesman Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said on Thursday.
Ashtiani said the exercises would begin near the Afghan border and move
throughout Iran. He said no date has been set for the end of maneuvers.
"It will continue in the whole of Iran, stage by stage, for an
unspecified period," Ashtiani said in statements to the state-run Iranian
media. "We have to be prepared against any threat, and we should be a role
model for other countries."
The military termed the exercise Operation Blow of Zolfaghar," a
reference to the sword of Imam Ali, the inspiration for the Shi'ite
religion. In the first stage, the exercise would consist of 12 infantry
battalions backed by air and armored forces.
The military announcement marked a resumption of large-scale exercises
by the Islamic republic.
"Our army is ready to defuse all plots against Islamic republic of
Iran," Ashtiani said.
"Human forces can decide the fate of a war," Ashtiani said. "We saw it
in Lebanon."