Iran announces naval drills with Russia, China

Iranian media on Wednesday reported that trilateral naval drills with China and Russia would begin this week, with an official saying they were meant to “strengthen security.”

Citing reports from the Iranian Students News Agency, Reuters reported that Mostafa Tajoldin, a public relations official for the Iranian armed forces, confirmed the drills will start this Friday north of the Indian Ocean.

“The purpose of this drill is to strengthen security and its foundations in the region, and to expand multilateral cooperation between the three countries to jointly support world peace, maritime security and create a maritime community with a common future,” said Tajoldin.

According to the Iranian official, this will be the third joint naval drill that has been carried out between the three countries, with the first drills having started in 2019.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian traveled to China last week and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, Reuters noted.

Last week, China and Iran launched a 25-year cooperation deal that will build bilateral partnerships on health care, infrastructure, cybersecurity and infrastructure.

When announcing the deal’s launch, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took the opportunity to criticize the U.S. for its unilateral sanctions against Iran.

The United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service chief, Richard Moore, last year labeled China, Iran and Russia as the biggest threats to his country, warning of “large-scale espionage operations” that China has launched against Britain. According to Moore, Russia’s meddling in other countries’ elections and Iran’s efforts to create political disorder both posed threats to the U.K.