China, Iran, and Russia Plan Joint Naval Drills Amid Rising Tensions In Middle East

China is going to carry out joint naval drills with Russia and Iran in the coming weeks, as the US forces and Iran-backed Houthi militias forces counter-strikes and mount strikes in the Middle East. Russian and Iranian media quoted Rear Adm. Shahram Irani, the commander of Iran’s navy, stating that the drills would be held before March end and aimed toward “regional security”.

Per Iran’s Tasnim news agency – which referred to the drills as a “war game” – Irani mentioned that several other nations were invited to take part in the exercise. The three nations’ navies held trilateral manoeuvres in the waters of the Gulf of Oman in March of the previous year; the reports were silent on the location of the drills.

The Middle East is tense as a result of the US-led coalition’s third round of strikes on Houthis in Yemen on Saturday, coinciding with this year’s drills. The bombings were an answer to previous Red Sea attacks on commercial vessels by the Houthi rebel organization. Per the Pentagon, the most recent round of attacks aimed at weakening the capabilities of the organization backed by Iran targeted approximately 36 targets spread over 13 areas in Yemen.

China has not condemned the Houthis formally. Per Reuters, China’s officials have asked the Iranian counterparts to aid in reining in the attacks on vessels in the Red Sea executed by the group. Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency first reported on the joint exercise with Russia and China in December. But during that time, Irani had not elaborated on when these drills would occur. The Iranian commander said then that Pakistan, India, Brazil, Oman, and South Africa were among the nations that were invited as observers.

The earlier version, “Security Bond-2023,” was held over five days and featured precise strikes and real-time fire suppression. Along with anti-terrorism as well as anti-piracy training, the navies also staged a mock rescue attempt from a hijacked cargo vessel.

For the exercises, China sent the Nanning, which belongs to its South Sea Fleet. The exercises “deepened the practical cooperation between the two navies … and further demonstrated their readiness and capacity to jointly maintain maritime security, a Chinese captain said at the time CCTV.

Iran’s light frigate Jamaran and Russia’s frigate Admiral Gorshkov, armed with hypersonic missiles, were part of the exercise.
There hasn’t been any formal declaration from either China/Russia on the year’s drill.

Reference: SCMP

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