Iran in talks with neighbors over joint drills – army commander

PanARMENIAN.Net - A senior Iranian Army commander said that country is in close consultation and contact with the neighboring states to hold joint drills, according to Fars News Agency.

"We have good relations with the neighboring states and the contacts are organized through the General Staff of the Armed Forces," Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said.

"We try to increase our interactions with these countries in the fields of culture and wargames," the commander added.

Earlier, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Operational Affairs Brigadier General Mostafa Salami announced that Iranian and Omani armed forces are scheduled to hold joint rescue and relief drills in Iran's Southern port city of Bandar Abbas next winter.

Salami said that the joint exercises will be held in the Iranian calendar month of Dey (December 21, 2011- January 19, 2013).

Iran's Armed Forces have voiced their preparedness to stage joint military exercises with the regional countries in a bid to show that the regional states can restore peace and security to the region without foreign aid or presence of the alien forces.