Iran conducts military maneuver near key nuclear sites

Iran conducted, on Sunday, a military maneuver near nuclear facilities, as a part of the Eghtedar-e Velayat maneuvers launched last week.

Joint air defense exercises began on Sunday in western and northern regions, including the Fordow facility (central Iran) and Khondab (western Iran), home to the Arak heavy water reactor.

The fortified Fordow facility, located in the mountains near the city of Qom, is one of Iran’s most critical uranium enrichment sites.

The maneuver involved missile, radar, electronic warfare, and information control units, as well as air defense.

On Tuesday, the IRGC announced the initiation of the maneuvers near the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran.

These military activities, involving both the Iranian Army and the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are set to continue until mid-March.

The Commander of the Joint Air Defense Headquarters in Iran, Qader Rahimzadeh, explained in a statement that “maneuvers’ full details will not be disclosed for reasons of maintaining secrecy and ensuring strategic surprise against adversaries, and only a limited portion of the exercises will be revealed to the public through the media.”

These military activities come as tensions over Iran’s nuclear program escalate ahead of US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House on January 20. Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program have heightened since the US unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal during Trump’s first term.

In response, Iran ramped up its nuclear activities and gradually abandoned its commitments under the deal.