Two Syrian newspapers said Thursday that Iran’s recent naval drills in the Persian Gulf and Hormuz Strait sent a message to the West on the possibility of closing of the key oil waterway. Iran’s ten-day \'Velayat-90\' naval drills which concluded on January 2 were held in the Hormuz Strait, including waters in the Sea of Oman and free waters in the Indian Ocean up to Gulf of Aden. An article in Al-Thawra’s Thursday edition said that the Velayat-90 naval exercises proved US and its allies, including the Zionist regime, that Tehran was capable of blocking the critical waterway and endangering the West’s interest whenever it is deemed necessary. Meanwhile, the Tishreen newspaper wrote in an article that the naval drills were counterattacks against Washington.