Iran showcases new ships, holds missile drills in Gulf of Oman
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Topics: IRAN OMAN
The two-day missile drill was being held in the gulf’s southeastern waters and two new Iranian-made warships joined the exercise: The missile-launching Zereh, or “armour,” and the country’s largest military ship the Makran, a logistics vessel with a helicopter pad named after a coastal region in southern Iran.
State TV said the 121,000-metric ton Makran is Iran’s largest military ship at 228 metres (748 feet) long, 42 metres (138 feet) wide and 21.5 metres (70 feet) tall. The Makran, a logistics ship that supports combat ships in the fleet, can travel for nearly three years without docking and carries information collection and processing gear, according to the Revolutionary Guard.
Video footage released by the military showed helicopters carrying commandos to the Makran as part of the exercise.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said in a televised speech during a Cabinet meeting that US sanctions will fail. “We are witnessing the failure of a policy, the maximum pressure campaign, economic terrorism,” he said. ■