Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the military, are carrying out drills on the country’s southern shores of the Gulf, state media said Tuesday.
‘Combined 1404 (2026) exercise of the IRGC Ground Forces has begun,’ state TV reported, referring to this year in both the Iranian and Gregorian calendars.
The war games are focused on the south coasts but similar drills are happening in other parts of Iran, the report added.
They include drones, vessels, amphibious vehicles, ground-to-sea missiles and rockets as well as artillery, state TV said.
‘Very good measures have been designed in various sectors, including missiles, artillery, drones, special forces, armoured vehicles and armoured personnel carriers,’ Mohammad Karami, commander of IRGC ground forces, told state television.
He said the drills were being conducted ‘based on the threats that exist’, without elaborating.
The drills come after Washington and Tehran concluded two rounds of Oman-mediated talks aimed at reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, with further talks set for Thursday.
Washington has repeatedly called for zero uranium enrichment by Iran but has also sought to address its ballistic missile programme and support for militant groups in the region, demands Iran has rejected.
Western countries accuse the Islamic republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
Tehran denies having such military ambitions but insists on its right to nuclear technology for civilian purposes.
US president Donald Trump, who has ratcheted up pressure on Iran to reach an agreement, has deployed a significant naval force to the Middle East. He once again on Monday threatened Iran with a military attack if a deal is not reached.
Last week, Iranian naval forces conducted another round of military drills in the Gulf and around the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iran offered a muted warning on Tuesday for students who staged anti-government rallies, with the country’s leaders under pressure after a recent mass protest movement and threats of US military action over its nuclear programme.
University students kicked off a new semester over the weekend with gatherings in which they revived slogans from nationwide protests against the country’s clerical leadership that peaked in January and were met by a deadly crackdown.
On Monday, the third consecutive day of the campus protests, videos geolocated by AFP showed students at a university in Tehran burning the Iranian flag adopted by the Islamic republic after the 1979 revolution that toppled the monarchy.
Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, giving the first official reaction to the rallies, said on Tuesday that while students had a right to protest, they must ‘understand the red lines’.
The flag, she added, was one ‘of these red lines that we must protect and not cross or deviate from, even at the height of anger’.
She said Iran’s students ‘have wounds in their hearts and have seen scenes that may upset and anger them; this anger is understandable’.
The initial wave of protests began in December, sparked by economic woes in the sanctions-hit country, but soon grew into nationwide demonstrations that crested on January 8 and 9, posing one of the largest challenges to Iran’s leaders in years.
The unrest prompted a violent government crackdown that killed thousands of people.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, while warning the full toll is likely far higher.
Iranian officials acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by ‘terrorist acts’ fuelled by the United States and Israel.
During the protests, the government had sought to walk a line between acknowledging protesters’ legitimate economic grievances while condemning so-called ‘rioters’.
Mohajerani on Tuesday said a fact-finding mission is investigating ‘the causes and factors’ of the protests and will provide reports.
