TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran will hold widespread naval drills extending to the Gulf of Aden in December, its navy chief said on Thursday, asking foreign forces to "leave the area” to avoid incidents.
The week-long exercises — the first on this scale since the election of President Hassan Rouhani in June last year — are set to start on December 25 and take place between the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Aden, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
"The ballistic capacity of Iran will be on display during exercises including missile launches,” Sayyari said.
He said military maneuvers would also take place in the southeastern provinces of Hormozgan and Sistan-Baluchistan.
Sayyari called on foreign forces to leave the drill zone for the duration of the exercises.
The maneuvers will pose "no danger to foreign forces in the Persian Gulf”, he added, in an apparent reference to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is stationed in Bahrain.
Iran’s navy has boosted its international presence over the past few years, in particular to help guard commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden against pirate attacks.
Tehran’s last major military drills were held in May 2013, a month before Rouhani was elected.
 The new drill, codenamed "Muhammad Rasolallah", will involve the army, navy, air force, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the volunteer Basij force, Army Brig. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi told reporters.
"New weapons and tactics will be tested and evaluated in the war games," he added.
Sayyari said tests would include assessing the capability of Iran's "surface-to-surface, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and air-to-surface missiles".
The objective of the exercise, Mousavi explained, is to bolster Iran's combat power, including practicing counter-terrorism maneuvers.
The exercise will also serve as a "show of lasting might, peace, and friendship under the banner of Islamic and regional unity" and to demonstrate that Iran is "opposed to the presence of foreigners in the region", Mousavi added.