On Tuesday, Iranian Army and IRGC units gathered in the country’s vast central desert to commence an exercise called ‘Modafean-e Aseman-e Velayat 1400’ (The Defenders of Velayat Skies 1400) – 1400 refers to the current year on the Iranian calendar.

The war games were attended by Brigadier General Ghader Rahimzadeh, commander of the country’s Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base.

The air-defense force commander said the drill is aimed at enhancing combat readiness and evaluating homegrown air-defense systems against various simulated threats. Rahimzadeh added that the exercise will also assess Iran’s capacity to counter electronic warfare and cyberattacks.

Footage and photos shared online show military hardware gathered in the desert for the drills. The images show the presence of portable radar systems, as well as several surface-to-air missile defense variants.

The commander said the drill would combine indigenous as well as creative tactics and techniques. He claimed the exercise would also feature modern Iranian technology.

On October 1, Iran kicked off another military drill, ‘Fatehan (Conquerors) of Kheibar’, on the country’s northern border near Azerbaijan. The exercise was described as one of the largest ever held by Iranian forces. It came amid a number of comments from Iranian officials concerning an alleged “Zionist presence” on its borders.

“We certainly will not tolerate geopolitical shifts or a change of the map on the Southern Caucasus. And we have serious concerns about the presence of terrorists and Zionists in that region,” Iranian Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said during a visit to Moscow last week.