TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iranian warplanes warned off two foreign vessels during military drill in waters off the country's southeast, a senior naval officer said Monday.
The vessels approached the area of the drills early on Monday to monitor Iranian ships, said Rear Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, spokesman for the drills, according to Tasnim news agency.
"Iranian drones identified the vessels, then Iranian planes flew over them and gave them a warning. The vessels left the area," he was quoted as saying.
The Iranian army launched two days of exercises on Monday involving ground, naval and air forces in the country's south and southeast, near the Makran Coast, and other areas in the Gulf of Oman.
There have been periodic confrontations between the Iranian and U.S. military in the Persian Gulf - a major trade route for oil - in recent years.
During the first day of the military drills codenamed Muhammad Rasulullah-5 (Muhammad, the Messenger of God), combat helicopters of the army’s ground force airborne division opened heavy fire on the hypothetical enemy’s naval vessels approaching the coast.
Air force fighter jets also carried out sorties along the Oman Sea coastal areas to support the troops in ground operations.
Commanders say the exercise is aimed at promoting the capabilities of the army forces and conveying the message of peace and friendship to regional countries.
The Iranian armed forces hold routine military drills throughout the year.
Mousavi said that the army’s ground forces fired a Fajr 5 rocket and a Naze’at missile as part of defense exercises during the first day of the drills.
The first day also saw operations by naval surface and subsurface vessels as well as aerial craft to monitor, track, and destroy mock enemy units to prevent them from approaching Iranian waters.