Iran’s expansion of its missile programme caused concern by the United States and NATO countries. As Skynews reported on Monday, Tehran says the programme provides deterrent capabilities and is defensive.
Iran has successfully launched a cruise missile on Sunday, in a frame of the third day of drills. According to the state-run news agency IRNA, a”Ghadir-class Iranian navy submarine successfully launched a cruise missile”. Two more submarines have the same capability, the report said. Warships, helicopters and surveillance planes have also taken part in the scheduled military exercises, which ends on Sunday evening.
The Iranian naval exercises took place near the Strait of Hormuz between February 22-24, at a time of cooling relations with the United States. A strait is on major oil shipping route at the mouth of the Gulf, in retaliation for any hostile U.S. action, including attempts to halt Iranian oil exports through sanctions.
Iran’s ministry of defence has earlier announced the military exercises with three submarines. Two other submarines, the Tareq and the new domestically built Fateh, have the same anti-ship capability, IRNA quoted a military statement as saying. More than 100 vessels took part in the three-day war games in a vast area stretching from the Strait of Hormuz to the Indian Ocean between Friday and Sunday.
