Iran on Tuesday started the first stage of a massive air drill in northwest of the country, the semi- official ISNA news agency reported.

The drill, to be conducted in Tabriz city in northwestern Iran, will last for 10 days, said the report.

Brigardier General Mohsen Darebaghi told a press conference on Tuesday that in the first stage of the drill, which will last for three days, all the air bases of the country will participate.

The air exercise aims at deterrent purposes, he added.

An earlier report by local Fars news agency said different plane equipment, ammunition and tactics will undergo test in the exercise, which will be conducted in four stages.

An array of fighter jets, fighter bombers, cargo and transportation planes, including the F-4, F-5, Sukhoi SU-24, Mig- 29 and C-130 planes, will be used in the exercises, said Fars.

Brigardier General Seyyed Mohammad Alavi, deputy commander of Iran Air Force Operations, told the press conference that different kinds of missiles, including air-to-air and air-to- ground missiles, will be used in the drill, which was "unique" over the past three decades, according to ISNA.