MNA – Commander of Army Air Defense Force Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard said that the ongoing air defense drill in Semnan province is a simulation of the situation in the Persian Gulf.

“The area of this war game is a simulation of Persian Gulf region, especially Hormuz Strait; meaning all the systems that we use to detect and counter threats in the Persian Gulf and Hormuz Strait are present in this war game,” he told reporters on the sideline of ‘Modafe’an-e Aseman-e Velayat 98’ [Guardians of Velayat’s Sky-98] military drill in the central Iranian province of Semnan.

The military drill has two stages, he said, the first one is detecting different threats and the second one in confronting with the targets.

According to plans, the most difficult and real combat situation will be practiced in the military drill, added the commander.

“One of our aims is to test combat capability of air defense which currently stands at the forefront [of countering enemies],” he said, highlighting that Iran’s air space is ‘red line’ and any aggression by enemies will not go unanswered.

“I advise enemies not to test their abilities in this ground because, as proved earlier, any trespassing into Islamic Republic of Iran’s air space will bring nothing for them except humiliation,” Sabahifard said.

This is the first military drill of the Army’s Air Defense after the force was established some six months ago, he said, also noting that the state-of-the-art weapons and systems will be used in the drills.

He went on to say that the Air Force will contribute to this drill by playing the role of aggressive units.

The war game will be held in an area of 416,000 square kilometers.