WORLD> Middle East
Iran to hold anti-aircraft war games
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-07 20:58

TEHRAN, Iran  -- Iran's official news agency says that the country will launch on Monday a three-day anti-aircraft exercise.

The IRNA report says the maneuver is aimed at improving defensive capabilities and will involve new weapons and tactics.

Sunday's announcement comes amid heightened tension in Iran following Israel's major military exercises involving war planes over the eastern Mediterranean in June. The exercise was described in the US press as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The West accuses Iran of trying to create a nuclear weapons program -- a claim Iran denies, maintaining its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.