Iran flexes military muscles amid tensions with US

A helicopter landing on the Makran logistics vessel during a navy drill Picture: Iranian navy/AP

Iran’s navy began a short-range missile drill in the Gulf of Oman and inaugurated its largest military vessel, state TV reported, amid heightened tensions over Tehran’s nuclear programme and a US pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The two-day missile drill was being held in the gulf’s southeastern waters and two new Iranian-made warships joined the exercise: The missile-launching Zereh, or “armour”, and the country’s largest military ship the Makran, a logistics vessel with a helicopter pad named for a coastal region in southern Iran.