Amidst ongoing nuclear program negotiations in Geneva between Iran and the United States, Iran's Revolutionary Guard conducted a naval exercise on February 17, 2026, firing missiles at sea targets in the Strait of Hormuz. State television broadcast footage of mobile missile launchers hitting targets from land. The Iranian news agency Fars reported that sections of the vital shipping route, crucial for global oil exports and situated between Iran and Oman, were temporarily closed for "security precautions." The exercise, announced the day before the Geneva talks began, involved fast boats equipped with missile launchers. This event occurs against a backdrop of heightened US military presence in the region, including the deployment of a second aircraft carrier, following Iran's suppression of domestic protests and President Trump's threats. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, asserting his authority, issued a defiant warning, stating that a weapon capable of sinking an aircraft carrier is more dangerous than the carrier itself.