伊朗已经开始大规模防空演习，模拟在地区动荡中潜在的空中入侵，一艘强大的美国海军军舰在伊朗海岸附近航行。
伊朗陆军防空准将阿里雷扎·萨巴希法德星期四在韦拉亚特天空保卫者联合演习的间隙说，演习在大约416，000平方公里的地区举行，大约相当于美国加利福尼亚州的面积，主要在北部塞姆南省。他说，他的部队“将练习最艰苦和最现实的战斗条件”，模拟波斯湾的冲突，特别是世界上最重要的石油瓶颈霍尔木兹海峡。
“我建议敌人不要对我们进行测试，因为进行这样的测试并进入伊朗伊斯兰共和国的天空，就像过去所显示的那样，对他们来说，除了羞辱之外，不会有任何成就，”萨巴法德说，并指出他的部队将使用“世界级”和“尖端”系统。
“如果敌人打算入侵、攻击甚至侵犯我们国家的天际线，这是我们的红线之一，”萨巴法德警告说，“我们可以对付它。”
11月21日，在伊朗塞姆南省的一个试验场，可以看到一个伊朗默萨德-16地对空导弹系统。伊朗在生产自己的防空系统上投入巨资，一套国产系统被认为在6月份在波斯湾上空击落了一架美国间谍无人机。
美国和伊朗在波斯湾有着长期动荡的历史，1988年该国在那里经历了迄今为止最致命的事件包括海军的文森特号军舰击落民用客机伊朗航空655航班，机上290人全部遇难。尽管随着2015年的核协议，竞争对手之间的长期不和暂时平息，但唐纳德·特朗普总统决定退出协议并实施制裁，导致这些关键水域再度出现不安全。
作为美国士兵据说是一支3000人的部队抵达沙特阿拉伯，这是特朗普政府遏制伊朗努力的一部分，尼米兹-级航空母舰亚伯拉罕·林肯号自从霍尔木兹海峡在五月被部署到该地区以来，本周首次航行通过该海峡。伊朗在波斯湾的大型军事演习和美国航空母舰之前发生过巧合，就像他们在尼米兹-级核动力超级航母美国约翰·C·斯坦尼斯号在12月的大先知演习中进入该地区。
特朗普下令最新部署以来的几个月里，美国指控伊朗破坏附近阿曼湾的油轮，并对其区域对手沙特阿拉伯的石油设施进行导弹和无人机行动。德黑兰否认了这些指控，并试图加强阿拉伯世界的地区关系。
与此同时，伊朗继续磨练其军事能力，尤其是在保护其天空方面。最近发布的国防情报局的一份报告发现，“伊朗运行着多种多样的萨姆和雷达系统，旨在保护关键地点免受技术领先的空军的攻击”，并且“还部署了更有能力的、国内开发的萨姆和雷达系统”，以帮助填补其防空漏洞。"
该报告称，“伊朗将通过新的空中监视雷达、反导弹以及指挥、控制、通信、计算机、情报、监视和侦察(C4ISR)系统实现IADS[综合防空系统的现代化。”。“一旦联合国武器禁运结束，德黑兰可以购买先进的第四代战斗机。伊朗还将开发和部署能力更强的无人机，包括武装平台。”
伊朗在处理所谓的国内空中入侵时使用了这种设备，革命卫队在霍尔木兹海峡击落了一架美国全球鹰间谍无人驾驶飞机，据报道，这架飞机装有第三代霍尔德地对空导弹系统。这一事件几乎促使特朗普对伊朗军事基地实施报复性打击。
本月早些时候，伊朗再次击落了萨巴法德所说的马赫沙尔上空的“外国”无人驾驶飞机。在事件发生后不久发表的一份声明中，美国中央司令部否认这是他们的。尽管如此，五角大楼继续加强其在该地区的存在，随着地缘政治竞争的展开，进一步使伊朗处于边缘地位。
11月19日，亚伯拉罕·林肯号航空母舰作为MH-60S海鹰直升机从直升机海上战斗中队5号的“夜行者”起飞，飞越霍尔木兹海峡。这艘船在部署到该地区几个月后进入了世界上最重要的石油阻塞点，以应对来自伊朗的明显威胁。
周四的空中演习也正值该国及其盟友面临紧张局势加剧和暴力爆发之际。激烈的全国性抗议震撼了伊朗以及阿拉伯伙伴伊拉克和黎巴嫩，那里的示威针对的是政府腐败和经济灾难，对德黑兰友好的势力遭受多次罢工以色列的宿敌。
周三，以色列针对伊朗最亲密的地区伙伴叙利亚展开了一场特别致命的行动。在以色列指责在叙利亚的伊朗军队向被占领的戈兰高地发射火箭的一天后，以色列进行了它所谓的“对伊朗圣城军和叙利亚武装部队的大规模袭击”
叙利亚官方媒体报道称，防空部队拦截了大部分“敌对目标”，但其他人毁坏了房屋，造成两名平民死亡，其他人受伤。总部设在英国的反政府叙利亚人权观察站发现约21人死亡，其中包括5名叙利亚士兵和伊朗精锐的革命卫队圣城军成员以及主要是非叙利亚人的同盟民兵。
一名了解局势的叙利亚观察员证实，5名叙利亚士兵和2名平民死亡新闻周刊受害者的名字和照片。消息来源称，一名真主党战士也受伤，但声称以色列袭击时伊朗的立场是明确的。
IRAN HOLDS MAJOR AIR WAR GAMES AS U.S. MILITARY MOVES THROUGH TOP OIL ROUTE
Iran has begun widescale air defense drills, simulating a potential aerial invasion amid regional unrest and a powerful U.S. Navy warship sailed near its shores.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 98-Guardians of Velayat Sky joint exercises, Iranian Army Air Defense Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard said Thursday that the maneuvers were being held across an area of some 416,000 square kilometers—roughly the size of the U.S. state of California—mostly in the northern province of Semnan. He said his forces "will practice the toughest and most realistic combat conditions," simulating a conflict in the Persian Gulf, especially the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil chokepoint.
"I advise enemies not to put us to the test, because conducting such a test and entering the sky of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as shown in the past, will lead to no achievements for them, except humiliation," Sabahifard said, noting his forces would employ "world-class" and "cutting-edge" systems.
"If the enemy intends to invade, attack or even infringe on our country's skyline, which is one of our red lines," Sabahifard warned, "we can deal with it."
An Iranian Mersad-16 surface-to-air missile system is seen at a test range at a testing range in Semnan province, Iran, November 21. Iran has invested heavily in producing its own air defenses and a domestically-produced system was believed to have taken out a U.S. spy drone over the Persian Gulf in June.
The U.S. and Iran have a long-troubled history in the Persian Gulf, where in 1988 the country experienced what was by far the deadliest incident involved the Navy's USS Vincennes shooting down civilian airliner Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 onboard. Though the rivals' longstanding feud briefly abated with a 2015 nuclear deal, President Donald Trump's decision to leave the accord and impose sanctions has led to renewed insecurity across these critical waters.
As U.S. soldiers from what was to reportedly be a 3,000-strong force arrived in Saudi Arabia, part of the Trump administration's efforts to deter Iran, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sailed this week through the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since it was deployed to the region in May. Large Iranian military maneuvers and U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf have previously coincided, as they did when Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS John C. Stennis entered the region amid the Great Prophet drills in December.
In the months since Trump ordered the latest deployment, the U.S. has accused Iran of sabotaging oil tankers in the nearby Gulf of Oman and of conducting a missile and drone operation against oil facilities in its regional rival Saudi Arabia. Tehran has denied these allegations and has attempted to shore up regional ties across the Arab world.
At the same time, Iran's continued to hone its military capabilities, especially in shielding its skies. A recently-released Defense Intelligence Agency report found that "Iran operates a diverse array of SAM and radar systems intended to defend critical sites from attack by a technologically superior air force" and is "also fielding more-capable, domestically developed SAM and radar systems "to help fill gaps in its air defenses."
"Iran will modernize its IADS [integrated air defense systems] with new air surveillance radars, SAMs, and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems," the report said. "Once the UN arms embargo ends, Tehran can purchase advanced fourth-generation fighter aircraft. Iran will also develop and field more-capable UAVs, including armed platforms."
Iran has employed such equipment in dealing alleged aerial incursions at home, with the Revolutionary Guard downing a U.S. Global Hawk spy drone over the Strait of Hormuz, reportedly with a 3rd-Khordad surface-to-air missile system. The incident nearly prompted Trump to conduct retaliatory strikes on Iranian military sites.
Earlier this month, Iran again downed what Sabahifard said at the time was a "foreign" drone over Mahshahr. In a statement issued shortly after the incident, U.S. Central Command denied it was one of theirs. Still, the Pentagon has continued to boost its presence in the region, further putting Iran on edge as a geopolitical rivalry played out.
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln transits the Strait of Hormuz as an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from the "Nightdippers" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5 lifts off from the flight deck, November 19. The vessel entered the world's most important oil chokepoint months after being deployed to the region in response to a perceived heightened threat from Iran.
Thursday's air drills also came as the country and its allies faced heightened tensions and outbreaks of violence. Intense nationwide protests have rocked Iran and Arab partners Iraq and Lebanon, where demonstrations have targeted government corruption and economic woes and forces friendly to Tehran have been subject to repeated strikes by archfoe Israel.
A particularly deadly Israeli operation targeted Iran's closest regional partner, Syria, on Wednesday. A day after Israel blamed Iranian forces in Syria for launching rockets toward the occupied Golan Heights, Israel conducted what it called "wide-scale strikes of Iranian Quds Force & Syrian Armed Forces."
Official Syrian media outlets reported that air defenses had intercepted most of the "hostile targets," but others damaged homes, killing two civilians and wounding others. The U.K.-based, anti-government Syrian Observatory for Human Rights found some 21 dead, including five Syrian soldiers and members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force and allied militias, mostly non-Syrian.
One Syrian observer with knowledge of the situation confirmed the death of five Syrian soldiers and two civilians, sharing with Newsweek the names and photos of the victims. The source said that one Hezbollah fighter was also injured, but contended that the Iranian positions were clear at the time of the Israeli attack.
