TEHRAN: 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 U.S. press as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran''s nuclear facilities.