Iran expands drills ahead of nuclear talks with Europe
TEHRAN

Iran has expanded military drills to cover two additional nuclear facilities in the west and center of the country, with Tehran set to hold nuclear talks with France, Britain and Germany on Jan. 13.
The drills, dubbed Eqtedar or "might" in Farsi, began last week and are set to continue until mid-March. They involve the army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideological branch of Iran's military.
On Jan. 7, the IRGC announced the drills were initially focused on the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in central Iran.
"The exercises are currently being held at the Fordow and Khondab nuclear facilities," in central and western Iran respectively, state TV reported yesterday.
They involve missile and radar units, electronic warfare units, electronic intelligence and reconnaissance command carrying out "offensive and defensive missions,” it said.
The military activities are taking place with Iran's nuclear program under close watch ahead of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House.
In his first term, Trump pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran and he also ordered the killing of a IRGC general in a drone strike in Iraq.
Iran is set to hold nuclear talks with France, Britain and Germany on Jan. 13 in Switzerland.
In January, U.S. news website Axios reported that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had presented President Joe Biden with options for a potential U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities if Tehran moved toward developing an atomic weapon before Jan. 20, when Trump takes office.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei criticized the reports, saying threats against the country's nuclear facilities were "a gross violation of international law.”
Iran maintains that its nuclear programmed is solely for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop atomic weapons.