IRGC Launches Military Exercise on Re-deployment of Combat Forces in Abu Musa Island

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy's speedboats move during an exercise in Abu Musa Island, in this picture obtained on August 2, 2023. (Tasnim)
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy's speedboats move during an exercise in Abu Musa Island, in this picture obtained on August 2, 2023. (Tasnim)
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IRGC Launches Military Exercise on Re-deployment of Combat Forces in Abu Musa Island

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy's speedboats move during an exercise in Abu Musa Island, in this picture obtained on August 2, 2023. (Tasnim)
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy's speedboats move during an exercise in Abu Musa Island, in this picture obtained on August 2, 2023. (Tasnim)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) launched a military exercise on Abu Musa Island, one of three disputed islands claimed by the UAE.

The IRGC Navy and the Basij militia took part in the war game on the deployment of combat forces. It included inaugurating new boats and launching cruise missiles and drones.

The exercise aims to show “the power and combat defense readiness of the IRGC Navy in protecting the security of the Gulf ... and ... islands and it includes the use of “locally manufactured equipment and systems in the defense-based industries.”

In this exercise, the vessels of the special unit of Martyr Hojjaji that are equipped with 600-km long-range missiles were taking part to defend the island's territory, said Tasnim news agency.

Hojjaji is the name of an IRGC members who was killed in Syria.

The news agency gave no details about the missiles.

IRGC-affiliated media reported that the exercise is dubbed "Eshaq Dara" after a commander who was killed in clashes with the US forces during the Tanker War in the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War.

The drill focused on Abu Musa Island and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs which are near the Straits of Hormuz.

Iranian media released footage and images as part of the propaganda that usually goes hand in hand with military exercises.

The commander-in-chief of the IRGC, Major General Hossein Salami, and the IRGC Navy's commander, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, headed to Musa Island ahead of the maneuvers.

“We always try for security and tranquility; it is our way,” Salami, said in a televised address during the drill.

“Our nation is vigilant, and it gives harsh responses to all threats, complicated seditions, and secret scenarios and hostilities.”

Salami considered that all “the riots, divisions, and tensions are the outcome of US policy and the Zionist entity.”

"The islands ... are part of Iran's honor, and we will defend them," Tangsiri said, adding that Gulf security needed to be provided by regional countries.

The “Gulf belongs to all of the region's countries ... These states must be very prudent and prevent themselves from falling into the conspiracies and divisive plans of extra-regional countries," he added.

Tasnim quoted Brigadier General Ali Ozmaei, the Commander of the IRGC Navy, as saying that 1,500 members including 30 men from the Basij militia were deployed in the military exercise.

"In this exercise, Basiji fighters were quickly dispatched to Abu Musa Island by aircraft and light and heavy vessels to defend the Island, and after being transported by air and sea, the fighters were deployed in predetermined positions to defend the Island," Ozmaei added.

He went on to say that 50 soldiers participated in the training on “air assault” with helicopters, remarking the use of air and sea drones, launchers and missile launchers, and Zulfiqar boats carrying missiles on board.

Meanwhile, Iran has been trying to signal its displeasure with recent comments about the islands made by Russia.

Russia earlier this summer in a joint statement with the Gulf Cooperation Council called for "bilateral negotiations or the International Court of Justice" to decide who should control the islands.

Last month, the United States sent additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, along with a warship to the Middle East, in a bid to monitor waterways in the region following Iran's seizure of commercial shipping vessels in recent months.

The Pentagon dispatched the troop-and-aircraft-carrying USS Bataan to the Gulf to protect navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

For the US, keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping remains a priority to ensure global energy prices don’t spike, particularly as Russia’s war on Ukraine pressures markets, said The Associated Press this week.



Elon Musk Holds Unprecedented Pentagon Meeting, Wants Leakers Prosecuted

 Elon Musk and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laugh at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, US, March 21, 2025 in this screengrab obtained from a video. (Reuters)
Elon Musk and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laugh at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, US, March 21, 2025 in this screengrab obtained from a video. (Reuters)
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Elon Musk Holds Unprecedented Pentagon Meeting, Wants Leakers Prosecuted

 Elon Musk and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laugh at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, US, March 21, 2025 in this screengrab obtained from a video. (Reuters)
Elon Musk and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laugh at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, US, March 21, 2025 in this screengrab obtained from a video. (Reuters)

Billionaire Elon Musk took his campaign to cut the US federal government into uncharted waters on Friday, holding an unprecedented top-level meeting at the Pentagon and calling for the prosecution of any Defense Department officials leaking false information about his visit.

Musk met US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for 80 minutes in his first such talks at the Pentagon, which is responsible for a large chunk of federal government spending. It was unclear whether US generals joined that meeting virtually.

The New York Times reported that Musk would be briefed on secret war plans for China, something Musk, Trump and others denied. Musk called the report "pure propaganda" and urged legal action against leakers.

"I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found," he wrote on X before the Hegseth meeting.

President Donald Trump, who has not yet visited the Pentagon in his second term as president, also denied the story. "China will not even be mentioned or discussed," he said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday about the meeting. Later he told reporters the Pentagon meeting was to address costs.

"Elon was over there to address costs – DOGE – a thing called DOGE, which you have heard about," Trump, referring to Musk's Department of Government Efficiency

Access to a closely guarded military plan would mark a sharp expansion of Musk's role as the Trump adviser who is spearheading efforts to cut US government spending.

It would also fuel questions about conflicts of interest for Musk, who as the head of Tesla and SpaceX also has business interests in China.

The White House has previously said Musk will recuse himself if any conflicts of interest arise between his business dealings and his role in cutting federal government spending.

Musk arrived in a motorcade at the Pentagon on Friday morning and quickly moved upstairs to meet Hegseth who said on X the talks would focus on "innovation, efficiencies & smarter production."

As he departed, Musk was seen joking with Hegseth, and said the meeting went well.

"If there's anything I can do to be helpful, I would like us to have a good outcome here," Musk said as he departed.

Musk's businesses Starlink and SpaceX have a number of Pentagon contracts, raising questions about conflicts of interest as he advocates for innovation and re-prioritization of Pentagon spending to find efficiencies.

Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said she had ordered an investigation into leaks from inside the intelligence community and is also probing internal chat rooms for any misconduct by employees.

During Trump's first term, his administration referred more media leaks for criminal investigation each year than in any of the previous 15 years, according to records released in 2021 by the Justice Department to the independent watchdog group, Project on Government Oversight, in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.