Article Posted on : - Apr 22, 2010

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Special Forces. A File Photo.

TEHRAN (AFP): Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have begun a three-day military drill which will test a range of home-built missiles and other weapons, a top commander said.

The exercise will see ground, air and naval units of the Guards participating and is aimed at "preserving the security of Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman," Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy chief of Guards told state-owned Al-Alam television channel.

"Iranian missiles and other weapons will be used ... to test Iran's defence capability," Salami said.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Nearly 40 per cent of world's seaborne oil shipments pass through this waterway.

Iran regularly conducts such military drills to boast about its defence capabilities and its military officials have previously warned that if Tehran is attacked, their forces will hit back by blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's missile programme has caused deep concern in the West which is already at loggerheads with Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme.