Iranian state television quoted navy chief Adm Habibollah Sayyari today as saying the maneuver will cover an area of 2 million square kilometers in the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean near the strait.
Nearly a third of all oil traded by sea passes through the strait and it has been the scene of previous confrontations between the US and Iran.
But the drill does not involve Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force the US Navy often criticizes for harassing its vessels.