TEHRAN -- Iranian military vessels will take part in a naval parade off the southern port of Bandar Abbas on Thursday to celebrate the Sacred Defense Week on the 42nd anniversary of the Iraqi imposed war on the Islamic Republic.
The spokesperson for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps announced on Wednesday that the IRGC will host the naval parade.
Various units of the Iranian armed forces will display the country’s naval power in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz during the parade, General Ramezan Sharif said.
According to the spokesman, a total of 1,444 heavy, semi-heavy and light military vessels will partake in the parade, including an advanced patrol combat warship named after Lt. General Qassem Soleimani that has recently joined the IRGC navy’s fleet.
He also noted that the fighter jets of the air force and the IRGC’s aerospace force will carry out aerial maneuvers during the naval parade.
Senior military commanders will attend the upcoming event, with Parliament speaker Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf booked as the keynote speaker, the spokesman added.
Every year, the latest achievements of the Iranian armed forces in missile industry, equipment for the ground, naval and air defense forces as well as communication gear are put on display in the military events marking the Sacred Defense Week.
The 1980-1988 Iraqi war waged by former dictator Saddam Hussein is known as the Sacred Defense in Iran, and weeklong events are held on the anniversary of the beginning of the war.