Iran Starts “Great Prophet 6” Drills on Monday

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is to launch a missile military maneuver to assess and upgrade the readiness of its armed forces against possible foreign aggression.

According to Commander of the Aerospace Division of the IRGC Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the exercise, dubbed "Great Prophet 6" will start on Monday.

He added that the missile drill is meant to appraise the preparedness of IRGC units, to practice new tactics, to place newly graduated cadets by the side of veteran ones and also to bring different range ballistic missiles into play, IRNA reported.

Brigadier General Hajizadeh added that short-, medium- and long-range missiles, namely Khalij Fars (Persian Gulf), Sejjil (Baked Clay), Fateh (Conqueror), Qiam (Rising), Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 missiles would be fired during the drills.

He noted that the IRGC will also unveil domestically devolved missile silos, underground vertical cylindrical containers for the storage and launching of ballistic missiles, at some point in the military exercise.

Brigadier General Hajizadeh stressed that "Great Prophet 6" maneuver has totally defensive objectives and will be staged with the message of "peace and friendship."

IRGC's naval; air and ground forces staged Great Prophet 5 military drill in the Persian Gulf in April 2010.