On the third day of military drills, the Islamic Republic of Iran's navy successfully launched a cruise missile from a submarine in the Persian Gulf.

The drill was part of a weeklong military drill named Velayat 97, after the current Iranian calendar year 1397 (ending March 20, 2019). The exercise took place in the Strait of Hormuz, an important strait between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman in which a large percentage of the world’s oil passes through — a point Iranian officials periodically remind the world when responding to attempts to embargo Iranian oil.

Iran's state TV, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, broadcast video of the green Ghadir-class submarine — designed specifically for shallow waters — launching a missile from underneath the water. The destination of the missile was not shown. According to media reports, other Iranian submarines such as the Taregh and the Fateh also have the capacity to launch cruise missiles.

The successful launch of a cruise missile is not the only missile-related news to make headlines in Iranian media. On Feb. 24, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, confirmed that an “enemy” country has been attempting to sabotage Iran’s missile program. “It’s been some years that we’ve known about this issue but we did not say anything,” Hajizadeh said. “They tried to sabotage in fragments and blow up the missiles in mid-air. But [so far] they have not been able to do a damn thing because … we predicted this and built a resistance to it.”