Iran carried out military maneuvers near nuclear facilities in the west and center of the country on Sunday, state television reported.
These exercises are being carried out as part of the maneuvers, called Eqtedar (“Power” in Persian), which began last week and are expected to continue until mid-March with the participation of the army and the Revolutionary Guards. Islamic, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic.
These military activities are taking place in a context of increased tensions around the Iranian nuclear program, in the run-up to the return to the White House of US President Donald Trump on January 20.
On Tuesday, the Revolutionary Guards announced exercises near the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, in the center of the country.
“The exercises are currently taking place at the Fordo nuclear facilities [centre] and Khondab” (west), where the Arak reactor is located, state television said on Sunday.
The Fordo site, located in the mountains near the city of Qom, is one of the most important installations in the country.
These maneuvers involve missile and radar units, as well as electronic warfare, electronic intelligence and reconnaissance units to “carry out offensive and defensive missions,” the television added.
Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program skyrocketed during Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, when the United States withdrew from a historic 2015 deal that offered Tehran sanctions relief in return of a limitation of its nuclear ambitions.
Iran adhered to the deal until Washington withdrew in 2018, then began to renege on its commitments.
Iran will hold discussions on its nuclear program with France, Germany and the United Kingdom on January 13 in Geneva, after previous talks in Switzerland at the end of November.
The head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, indicated that his country would create “more confidence in the peaceful nature” of its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
According to the American news site Axios, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan recently presented President Joe Biden with options for a possible US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, should Tehran move towards the development of a nuclear weapon before Donald Trump took office.
The Iranians defend the right to nuclear power for civilian purposes and deny wanting to acquire atomic weapons, something of which the West strongly suspects them.
