Iran simulates ‘capture of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa’

Thousands of paramilitary forces from Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard have held a war game simulating the capture of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque from Israeli control, according to Iranian media.

The forces stormed and liberated a replica of the mosque, the reports say.

They said that 120 brigades of Basij, the paramilitary unit of the guard, occupied hypothetical enemy positions during Friday’s exercise in the holy city of Qom in central Iran.

The mosque, located at a compound holy to Jews and Muslims, has been at the heart of weeks of unrest betweenIsrael and the Palestinians.

Iran, Israel‘s arch-enemy, frequently expresses solidarity with the Palestinians and holds an annual “Jerusalem Day” each year on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan.