TEHRAN – Commander of Iran’s Army Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi on Wednesday proposed holding joint aerial war games with Pakistan.
Heading a high-ranking military delegation, Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu met with the Iranian Army commander in Tehran.
General Mousavi touched on plans to increase scientific and technological interaction between the military forces of Iran and Pakistan, enhance training cooperation and hold joint drills, saying the two Muslim neighbors can stage joint aerial war games like the naval exercise they have held before.
He pointed to the major role of air forces in battles and in prevention of clashes in the modern era, saying air and aerospace forces, specifically drone units, have become much more influential in battlefields.
“The hegemony system is unwilling to see countries like us be independent and make progress, and resorts to various plots in order to keep us dependent,” the Iranian Army chief said as he touched on the cruel and illegal sanctions that have been imposed against Iran for the past four decades.
Iran has turned the sanctions from serious threats to an opportunity for progress and has achieved great capabilities in various military areas, including the aerospace and drone technologies, the general added.
For his part, the Pakistani air force commander hailed the brotherly and deep-rooted ties between the two nations.
Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu expressed Pakistan’s readiness to promote interaction with Iran in various scientific and technological fields and the exchange of military cadets.
He also said Pakistan is willing to learn from the experiences of Iran, which has made considerable progress in the aerospace sphere and the drone industry in recent years and has manufactured homegrown planes.