Iran's Army has kicked off unannounced military drills near the border with Turkey to test the rapid deployment of its forces in various conflict scenarios, says a top general.

Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari, Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces, said Wednesday that the military exercises were held upon the order of Army Commander, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi.

The drills were aimed at evaluating the force's combat readiness in the northwestern parts of the country, General Heidari said.

"The Army commander-in-chief's orders were immediately relayed to all units which were promptly deployed to the region with full military equipment," the general noted.

He said the exercise was successful and met its objectives.

"Unannounced drills test the combat readiness and the deployment procedures of the mobile strike forces as well as rapid response units and the teams present in the field did a good job," General Heidari added.

He said by announcing the drills, the Army sought to increase its readiness and strike capability while also boosting the ability of its forces to deploy and defend on short notice.

The general noted that the Army Ground Forces used "the latest domestically-developed" weapons and military gear for their missions.

Some of those technologies were indeed put to the test during the drill, he confirmed.

The exercise comes amid high tensions in the region as Turkey is poised to launch a major offensive in northern Syria to purge the area of Kurdish militants it regards as terrorists.