The country’s military exercises come weeks ahead of a deadline for finishing up talks between Iran and global powers over its nuclear program.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's elite military unit that reports directly to Ayatollah Khamenei, on Wednesday held military drills in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The target? A mock-up of a U.S. aircraft carrier.
A replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier is exploded by the Revolutionary Guard's speedboats during large-scale naval drills
AP Photo/Tasnim News
Though it has held drills of this size before, the latest — codenamed "Great Prophet 9" — was the first to target a fake aircraft carrier. The drill involved Iran's vaunted speedboats to attack the replica, along with missiles fired from on-shore.
Hamed Jafarnejad / AP
"American aircraft carriers are very big ammunition depots housing a lot of missiles, rockets, torpedoes and everything else," the IRGC's naval commander said, adding that a direct hit by a missile could set off a large secondary explosion.
Artist's rendering of what this would look like
20th Century Fox
The Associated Press posted a video clip from the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network's broadcast showing the exercises.
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