TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced that his forces plan to stage massive wargames in the international waters in mid winter.

"The massive Velayat 95 wargames will be held in the (Iranian) month of Bahman (January 20-February 18) to conclude the exercises this year and to ehnace and display the Islamic Republic of Iran's capabilities in defending the water borders and interests in a region wider than the sea," Sayyari said on Saturday.


Asked about the Velayat 95 wargames zone, he said, "The Navy's major wargames are held in the Northern Indian Ocean."


Sayyari also said that his forces will hold 20 specialized drills by the end of this (Iranian) year (ending on March 20).


The Admiral had announced in April that his forces would stage massive wargames in international waters this year.


"The massive Velayat 95 wargames will be held in international waters by the end of the current (Iranian) year," Sayyari told FNA in April.


The Navy commander said that the Navy also plans to hold joint drills with other countries' warships which berth at the Iranian ports and during reciprocal visits.


Iran ran major Velayat naval wargames in its territorial waters in the Persian Gulf late January.


The high-profile Velayat exercises is an annual event and all shipping lines and naval vessels in the region are informed of the area of the drills according to international maritime and naval standards that require all foreign ships and vessels to keep some 5 nautical miles away from the wargames zone.


During the wargames in March, the US Navy warship received a serious warning from several Iranian destroyers to keep away from their drill zone near the Strait of Hormuz, an incident that could keep frictions high after Iran captured 10 US marines in the Persian Gulf in the same month.


Also, the Iranian Navy's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a submarine recorded images of a US aircraft carrier on the third day of the main phase of the massive wargames along the country's Southeastern Makran seashores on the rims of the Persian Gulf.


The Navy's drone captured a video during the surveillance mission over the US aircraft carrier.


Meantime, a Qadir-class submarine also belonging to the Iranian Navy was deployed close to the US aircraft carrier with a mission to gather intelligence and capture video of the US vessel's moves.


The Iranian submarine managed to take clear pictures of the aircraft carrier without catching the attention of the staff on board.


Also in the wargames, the Iranian Naval forces launched multiple torpedoes from heavy Tareq-class and Qadir-class submarines that successfully hit the targets. Also Jamaran and Alvand destroyers fired torpedoes at surface and subsurface vessels on the forth day of the main phase of the massive wargames in the Persian Gulf.


By Fars News Agency