TEHRAN, Iran (AP) An Iranian news agency says paramilitary forces have wrapped up maneuvers on an island near the strategic oil tanker shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Thursday's report by the semiofficial Fars news agency says the two-day drills on Qeshm Island included hundreds of Basij forces, the paramilitary wing of the powerful Revolutionary Guard. Qeshm overlooks the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the route for one-fifth of the world's oil tanker traffic.
In past years, Iran had threatened to block the waterway in retaliation for international sanctions, but no longer issues such warnings.
Similar military exercises were held in other areas across Iran, which regularly holds maneuvers for its armed forces.
