Iran will launch a three-day annual navy drill from Friday in a vast area of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean including a sensitive global shipping route, state TV said on Thursday. “The drill will be held in the waters of Strait of Hormuz, Makran coast, Oman Sea and the north of the Indian Ocean, covering 2 million square kilometers,” said Iran’s navy commander, Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi. The exercise aims to evaluate the navy’s equipment, practice launching weapons and “enable the troops to gain readiness for a real battle,” AFP quoted him as saying. About a third of the world’s seaborne oil pass through the strait at the mouth of the Gulf every day.