TEHRAN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran started a four-day airforce exercises on Monday, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    The maneuvers are carried out in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman to preserve and enhance operational and support capability, the report said.

    "The first stage of the three-stage maneuvers was held successfully today (Monday)," Brigadier General Hossein Chitforoush, an airforce commander, was quoted as saying.

    "The exercise was held at two sites whose distance was 3,600 km (2,237 miles) with the fighter jets fuelling from tankers and from other fighter jets," the commander said.

    In December, Iran's Navy Force launched a maneuver in the Sea of Oman, which was said to be aimed at the promotion of Iran's armed forces' readiness to confront the possible threats and testing the country's modern defensive weapons.

    Iran reiterated that it had controlled "all movements of the enemy in the Sea of Oman, Persian Gulf and Hormuz Strait."

    The United States and Israel have consistently refused to rule out the possibility of military strikes against Iran over its refusal to halt its nuclear program.

    The United States and its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program.

    Iran has denied the U.S. charges and insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.