Iran military manoeuvres heighten Middle East tensions

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Revolutionary Guards exercises follow threats by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against US and Israel

Iran's Revolutionary Guards are carrying out military exercises amid rising tensions over the country's nuclear programme and rumours of a possible strike by Israel or the US.

The manoeuvres in southern Iran involve ground forces and follow threats by the Islamic regime to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz in retaliation to western sanctions.

The show of military strength also follows a warning by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that any military strike by the US or Israel would only make Iran stronger. Khamenei also pledged that Iran will help any nation or group that confronts the "cancer" Israel,

He affirmed that Iran had assisted militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas – a well-known policy, but one that Iranian leaders rarely acknowledge explicitly.



"From now on, in any place, if any nation or any group confronts the Zionist regime, we will endorse and we will help. We have no fear expressing this," said Khamenei. He said Israel was a "cancerous tumour that should be cut and will be cut".

His speech followed suggestions by Israel that military strikes are an increasing possibility if sanctions fail to halt the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme.




Western forces have recently bolstered their naval presence in the Gulf led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

Last month, Iran's navy carried out 10 days of exercises in the Gulf. The manoeuvres by the Revolutionary Guard, under the direct control of Khamenei, were announced by Iranian state media.