Iran's Revolutionary Guards perform military drill

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Major General Hossein Salami delivers a speech at the beginning of an IRGC authority drill in Iran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), have started conducting military exercises on the border with Azerbaijan, set to last for several days.

The large-scale manoeuvre is, among other things, to send a message to Iran’s enemies demonstrating the combat readiness of the IRGC ground forces, the state news agency IRNA reported, citing an officer.

The aim is to defend the country’s borders and security in the region, he said. The Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, where the manoeuvre is taking place, borders Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The exercise will focus on the use of parachutists, helicopters and also kamikaze drones, the Tasnim news agency reported. In addition, soldiers are to practice crossing the Aras border river with mobile bridges.

According to Tasnim, which is considered the mouthpiece of the Revolutionary Guards, three large-scale manoeuvres have already been held in the province, since fighting flared between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, over control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The two ex-Soviet republics have been fighting each other for decades, over the territory.

Similar to Russia, Iran maintains good relations with Armenia, but there have been repeated tensions with Azerbaijan. Tehran accuses the neighbouring country of cooperating with the West and its arch-enemy Israel.