伊朗德黑兰——国家电视台周日报道，在即将与西方举行核谈判不到一个月的时间里，伊朗军方开始在阿曼湾的一个沿海地区举行年度军事演习。
报道称，海军和空军部队以及地面部队正在战略要地霍尔木兹海峡以东100多万平方公里(38.61万平方英里)的地区参与战斗。
近20%的石油运输通过海峡到达阿曼湾和印度洋。
此次演习正值伊朗和美国前总统下台后紧张局势加剧之际唐纳德·特朗普美国单方面退出伊朗2015年与世界大国的核协议。
国家电视台说，包括突击队和空降步兵在内的旅为年度演习而部署。预计战斗机、直升机、军用运输机、潜艇和无人机也将参加演习。目前还不清楚这项运动会持续多久。
国家电视台称，被称为“Zolfaghar-1400”的战争游戏旨在“提高面对外国威胁和任何可能的入侵的准备程度”。
美国官员上周表示，伊朗上个月在阿曼湾扣押了一艘悬挂越南国旗的油轮，目前该船仍被扣押在其港口。
伊朗对所发生的事情提供了相互矛盾的说法，声称精锐的革命卫队突击队在阿曼湾挫败了美国对一艘载有伊朗石油的油轮的扣押，并释放了该船。它在国家电视台播放了戏剧性的镜头，但没有进一步解释这一事件。
这项核协议被称为“联合全面行动计划”，向伊朗承诺经济激励，以换取对其核计划的限制，并旨在防止德黑兰发展核弹。
在美国于2018年退出该协议并恢复对伊朗的制裁后，伊朗伊斯兰共和国逐渐——并公开——放弃了该协议对其核发展的限制。
伊朗表示，其20%浓缩铀的库存已经超过210公斤(463磅)，这是在即将与西方进行核谈判之前的最新挑衅举动。
根据历史性的核协议，伊朗被禁止进行3.67%以上的铀浓缩。90%以上的浓缩铀可以用于核武器，尽管德黑兰坚称其核计划是和平的。
经过几个月的拖延，欧盟、伊朗和美国上周宣布，恢复该协议的间接谈判将于11月29日在维也纳恢复。
Iran begins annual war games ahead of nuke talks with West
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran’s military began its annual war games in a coastal area of the Gulf of Oman, state TV reported Sunday, less than a month before upcoming nuclear talks with the West.
The report said navy and air force units as well as ground forces were participating in a more than 1 million square-kilometer (386,100 square-mile) area east of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Nearly 20% of all oil shipping passes through the strait to the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean.
The drill comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. in the wake of former PresidentDonald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of America from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
State TV said brigades including commandos and airborne infantry deployed for the annual exercise. Fighter jets, helicopters, military transport aircraft, submarines and drones were also expected to take part in the drill. It wasn't immediately clear how long the exercise would last.
Dubbed “Zolfaghar-1400,” the war games are aimed at “improving readiness in confronting foreign threats and any possible invasion," state TV said.
U.S. officials said last week that Iran had seized a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman last month and was still holding the vessel in its port.
Iran offered conflicting accounts of what happened, claiming that elite Revolutionary Guard commandos had thwarted a U.S. seizure of a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Gulf of Oman and freed the vessel. It aired dramatic footage on state television but did not further explain the incident.
The nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, and is meant to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.
After the U.S. withdrew from the deal in 2018 and restored sanctions on Iran, the Islamic Republic gradually — and publicly — abandoned the deal’s limits on its nuclear development.
Iran says its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium has reached over 210 kilograms (463 pounds), the latest defiant move ahead of upcoming nuclear talks with the West.
Under the historic nuclear deal, Iran was prohibited from enriching uranium above 3.67%. Enriched uranium above 90% can be used for nuclear weapons, though Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
After months of delays, the European Union, Iran and the U.S. announced last week that indirect talks to resuscitate the deal would resume Nov. 29 in Vienna.
