Iran holds annual Gulf drill amid rising tensions with US

Bandar Abbas: Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards launched a military drill in the Gulf on Tuesday, July 28, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, at a time of high tension between Tehran and Washington.

In recent years, there have been periodic confrontations in the Gulf between the Guards and the U.S. military, which has accused the Guards' navy of sending fast-attack boats to harass American warships as they pass the Strait of Hormuz. The Guards, in a statement quoted by Fars, said its naval and air forces will use "missile, UAV and radar units" in the drill.

Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have sharply lowered Tehran's oil exports.

The Guards in April said Tehran would destroy U.S. warships if Iran's security is threatened in the Gulf. Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to block Hormuz if Iran is not able to export oil or if its nuclear sites are attacked.