Iran held 10 maneuvers in Trump’s last two months: Military chief

The Islamic Republic conducted 10 military maneuvers during the last two months of the tenure of Donald Trump, the former US president, to counter mounting pressure from his administration, says Iran’s top military commander.

According to Press TV, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri made the remarks in a Sunday meeting with a senior Iranian Cleric and a Source of Emulation, Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani, in the holy city of Qom.

Baqeri said the Trump administration stepped up pressure on Iran in the said two months, engaging in provocative activities in the region.

“During this [two-month] period, as ordered by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, ten [military] drills were carried out across the country without prior planning. All of them were conducted with full force after the order issued [by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei],” the commander said.

The military drills were staged with utmost power as soon as the order came in from Ayatollah Khamenei, he added.

“The maneuvers covered various fields including the missile and drone defense as well as the naval and air defense fields, ending the enemy’s acts of mischief in the region, and forcing it to take its leave,” Major General Baqeri remarked, highlighting that Iran’s security was well-preserved during the period.

The Iranian armed forces, he said, faced the enemy’s pressure during the last two years. The pressure was significantly in the form of Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement and its intensification of sanctions.

Thank God, Baqeri continued, the enemy was ultimately forced to leave the region with humiliation and without its dreams coming true against the backdrop of the Leader’s command.

In the final two-month period of the Trump era, the United States flew its strategic B-52 bombers several times over the Persian Gulf in an attempt to intimidate the Islamic Republic.

ME