[1] During the exercise, Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets bombed predetermined targets on Faror Island.

[1] The Sukhoi Su-22s are based at Shiraz, 500 kilometers away from the Strait of Hormuz[2] and had been overhauled two years earlier, after decades of being grounded.

[2] Iran had repaired its replica of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier –which had suffered significant damage during the Great Prophet IX five years earlier– before the exercise.

[4] Satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies suggested that the mock carrier –carrying 16 mock-ups of fighter jets on its deck– was pulled by a tugboat on 27 July to the drill site.

Rebecca Rebarich, a spokesperson for the United States Fifth Fleet said "[w]hile we are always watchful of this type of irresponsible and reckless behavior by Iran in the vicinity of busy international waterways, this exercise has not disrupted coalition operations in the area nor had any impacts to the free flow of commerce in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters".