‘U.S. regional presence in Iran’s sights amid recent military drills’

January 27, 2021

Anadolu Agency:

 

Recent military drills by Iran in its southern waters, amid heightened tensions with Washington, are a message to the new U.S. administration, according to a political expert.

Iran has held a series of military drills in recent weeks. The exercises have gained momentum since the U.S. dispatched warships, submarines, and an aircraft-carrier to the Gulf region, sparking tensions and fears of a direct military confrontation between Tehran and Washington.

“Through the missile and drone exercises, the Iranian government aims to show its strength to the Iranian public, while it is sending a message, to the new U.S. administration, that prospective negotiations between the two countries will not be easy,” Hakki Uygur, deputy head of the Center for Iranian Studies (IRAM) in the capital, Ankara, told Anadolu Agency.

Iran had a very difficult year in 2020, as it tried to face down numerous attacks targeting its domestic and external security, Uygur said.

Pointing to the timing of the military exercises, Uygur said that the country had to somehow respond to these attacks against its national security, since the government’s inability to do so directly, in their aftermath, had caused internal unrest…

 

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