Iran's armed forces will next week launch aerial war games in a test of the Islamic republic's air-defence systems, a senior commander told media on Sunday.
The five-day drill starting on Tuesday "will be held all over the country in order to improve defence capability," Ahmad Mighani was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.
Iran's armed forces regularly conduct such exercises to show off the country's military prowess and test-fire what they boast are home-made missiles.
Tehran is under mounting international pressure over its nuclear programme, which the West fears it is using to mask a drive to build atomic weapons — a charge the Islamic republic has persistently denied.
The United States and its ally Israel have not ruled out a military strike to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons capability, prompting Tehran to threaten with a crushing response.
Following the latest round of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran, Russia refused to deliver the long sought after S-300 ground-to-air missiles to the country.
An Iranian top commander said Wednesday Iran would soon test its own version of the S-300 missiles. It is unclear whether any domestically built missiles similar to the S-300 would be tested during the upcoming war games.
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