Iran's IRGC Launches Exercises Near Key Waterway For Oil Transport

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says it has launched the final stage of a large-scale military exercise in southern Iran that includes operations in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRCG said on July 28 that the exercises, called Payambar-e Azam 14 (The Great Prophet) include forces from the IRGC Navy and the IRGC Aerospace Force, and involve ground, aerial, naval, and space operations.

The news comes a day after satellite images provided by U.S.-based space technology firm Maxar Technologies showed Iran had placed a replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran, which opposes the presence of U.S. and Western navies in the gulf, frequently holds naval war games in the strategic strait, a passageway for some 30 percent of all crude and other oil liquids traded by sea.

Tensions have been on the rise between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when the United States withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed crippling sanctions that have battered the Iranian economy.

In addition, IRCG and U.S. forces have had several incidents, with Washington accusing the Iranians of harassing its warships as they pass through the waterway.