Tasnim� Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan hailed a war game staged this week by the country�s Air Defense, saying the drill conveyed the message that Iran is powerful enough to foil any threat.





Speaking at the end of the large-scale maneuver on Wednesday, the senior commander said the message of the war game for the Iranian nation and for enemies is that the Armed Forces are fully prepared to counter threats.

He reminded �the enemies and those who nurture wishful thinking� against the country of the power of the Iranian Armed Forces, saying the Air Defense forces easily hit and destroyed small flying objects during the drill and, therefore, are well capable of targeting invading aircraft as well.

�Today, our Armed Forces are able to respond to any type of threat in the air, land and sea,� Pourdastan added.

He noted, however, that Iran�s message for the region is one of peace and friendship and that �we can provide security for the region and there is no need for aliens and trans-regional countries.�

The drill, codenamed Defenders of Velayat Skies 7, had started on Monday covering an area of 496,000 square kilometers in Iran�s southern areas, mainly the provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr and Khuzestan.

More than 17,000 armed forces took part in the drill, which came to an end on Wednesday with a military parade.

The main purpose of the exercise was improving coordination between various air defense units of the armed forces, serving either in the Army or the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).