Iran Army to hold major drill late October

TEHRAN - Iran's Army is planning to hold a major drill in the western part of the country in late October, Press TV reported on Thursday.

"This maneuver will be one of a kind and among the most spectacular drills ever held by the Iranian Army," an Iranian Army commander, Brigadier General Saeed Arablou, was quoted as saying.

Arablou said that airborne and heliborne forces and other units of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces will take part in the drill, said the report.

The drill, which will be held on Oct 29-31 in Gilan-e Gharb district in the western province of Kermanshah, aims to upgrade the combat abilities of the army forces and display defense capabilities of its various divisions.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and its Basij voluntary forces held a joint military drill in southeast of Iran' s capital of Tehran on Oct 18-19.

The Iranian military drills coincide with the ongoing joint military drill of the United States and Israel by the Mediterranean Sea. On Sunday, the two armies embarked on the three-week-long " Austere Challenge 12" (AC-12) maneuvers, which simulate responses to simultaneous mass missile attacks on Israel from several fronts.

Western countries including the United States and Israel suspect that Iran's nuclear activities aim at weapons which the Islamic republic denies. And the United States and Israel have not ruled out the possibility of attacking Iran's nuclear facilities.