TEHRAN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Navy launched military drills in the Caspian Sea aimed at "peace and friendship" among the littoral states, Press TV reported on Monday quoting a navy commander as saying.
The five-day drills started in an area measuring more than 88,000 square kilometers across Iran's northern waters, the report said.
The navy drills will encompass battles with mock enemy forces, performance of calculated warfare tactics as well as joint operations enlisting vessels, aircraft, coastal and seaborne operational units and logistical teams.
The main goal pursued by staging the drills is to show the armed forces' readiness to establish lasting security in the strategic waters and to cooperate with neighbors towards the enhancement of stability in the waterways, Iran's Northern Fleet announced.
"Our message by the exercise is that of peace and friendship under the aegis of authority and capability in the Caspian Sea," the Navy's Northern Fleet Captain Ahmad-Reza Baqeri was quoted as saying by Press TV.
