The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Tehran

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have embarked on a new round of war games to sharpen their combat readiness, amid continued tensions over the Iranian nuclear drive, the Fars news agency reported.

"The Great Prophet Manoeuvres III are being held by the missile divisions of the Revolutionary Guards air force and its naval vessels," the agency reported late on Monday. The aim of the war games is "improving the combat capability of the missile and naval units," it added. The Revolutionary Guards are Iran's ideological army who have their own ground forces, navy and air forces which operate in parallel to the regular armed forces.

The Guards are also responsible for Iran's most significant ballistic missiles including the Shahab-3 longer range missile, whose range has Israel and US bases in the Gulf within reach.