http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070218/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_war_games;_ylt=3DAn=
8NN4DzrPQsc6Ipvl39omELewgF
Iran's elite guards to hold war games
Sun Feb 18, 6:46 AM ET
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards will launch their second war games
in a month on Monday, just days ahead of a U.N. deadline regarding
Iran's nuclear program.
The Revolutionary Guards will begin three days of ground maneuvers,
the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday
"The guards will practice various kinds of fighting tactics including
tactics of asymmetrical warfare," the report said without elaborating.
The exercises are to take place in 16 of Iran's 30 provinces, IRNA
reported. Some 60,000 troops were expected to participate =E2=80=94 in line
with past exercises. The games were planned before the United Nations
Security Council approved economic sanctions against Iran on Dec. 23.
In December, the council gave Iran 60 days to halt uranium enrichment,
otherwise it will consider taking additional measures beyond the
sanctions in place. Enrichment is necessary to produce fuel for
nuclear reactors, but also to make nuclear weapons.
As tensions rise over Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, the
United States and Iran have pursued an escalating series of military
moves, with Washington sending more aircraft carriers to the region
and Iran responding with more frequent maneuvers.
The Revolutionary Guards is an elite military corps with more than
200,000 members and its own naval and air forces. It is independent of
the regular armed forces and controlled directly by the supreme
leader. It oversees vital interests such as oil and natural gas
installations and the nation's missile arsenal.
In January, the Guards held three days of war games.
The United States and several of its Western allies believe that Iran
is using the nuclear program to produce an atomic weapon =E2=80=94 charges
Iran denies, saying its aim is to generate electricity.
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