Buildings at the Natanz nuclear site in Iran. Archive photo AFP
The Iranian military has begun exercises near the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, in the center of the country, as part of large-scale maneuvers planned nationwide, state media reported Tuesday. These exercises, called iqtedar, "Power" in Farsi, involve the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, along with the ground forces.
"The first phase of the joint iqtedar exercises in the air defense zone of the Natanz nuclear facility began under the orders of the air defense headquarters commander," stated state television. It added that, according to the exercise scenario, the Guards' air forces were carrying out a "total defense" of the site "against a multitude of aerial threats in difficult electronic warfare conditions."
Revolutionary Guards' navy and Basij militia
On Monday, the spokesman for the Guards, Ali Mohammad Naeini, said these exercises, which will also take place in other regions of Iran until mid-March, were conducted in response to "new security threats," without further details. Several branches of the Guards, including the navy and the Basij militia, will participate in the exercises, he specified.
According to the American news site Axios, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan recently presented President Joe Biden with options for a potential American strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if Tehran moved toward developing a nuclear weapon before Jan. 20, Donald Trump's inauguration date.
The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, responded by calling the threats against the country's nuclear facilities a "flagrant violation of international law."
Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is solely for civil purposes and denies any intention of wanting to acquire nuclear weapons. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed state enriching uranium to 60%, close to the 90% needed to produce a nuclear weapon. Tensions around the Iranian nuclear program escalated sharply after Washington, during Trump's first term, unilaterally withdrew from a historic nuclear agreement that offered Tehran relief from Western sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear ambitions.