Iranian media reported that the exercises will cover half of the country and take place as if it is a “real battle.”
The Mehr news agency quoted General Abbas Farajpour as saying that Iranian air defense units will practice “protecting the country's strategic sites with the help of homegrown missile, radar and reconnaissance systems as well as electronic warfare, communication and monitoring equipment.”
"The first stage of the drill involves the expansion and deployment of defense systems, including missile and radar systems, with a focus on the mobility and rapid response of operational forces,” said Farajpour.
An area south of Nagorno-Karabakh and north of Iran is currently the epicenter of the continuing hostilities in the Karabakh conflict zone. The warring sides are using large numbers of soldiers, tanks, artillery and other military hardware there.
Tehran says that dozens of rockets and other projected have mistakenly landed near Iranian border villages since the start of the war on September 27. It has threatened to take “tough measures” if Armenian or Azerbaijani forces continue to accidentally shell Iranian territory.
Iranian news agencies reported that a “foreign drone” crashed on Tuesday in Iran’s Khoda Afarin district adjacent to the southern sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact.” The district governor said that Iranian military experts are examining its wreckage.
Another unmanned aerial vehicle was reportedly shot down or crashed last week in Iran’s Ardabil province east of Khoda Afarin.
Like other foreign powers, Iran has repeatedly called for an immediate end to the war. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has spoken by phone with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin.