The workouts are geared toward strengthening cooperation between the three international locations, and get beneath method as Iran accuses the US of ‘bullying’.
Iran, Russia and China have begun joint naval drills within the Gulf of Oman, marking the fifth yr the three international locations have conducted military drills collectively.
China’s CGTN information stated that the Marine Safety Belt 2025 workouts started close to the Iranian port of Chabahar on Tuesday and have been geared toward strengthening “cooperation among the many naval forces of the taking part international locations”.
The naval drills will contain “hanging maritime targets, injury management, and joint search and rescue operations”, based on CGTN.
“Over the course of two days, the ships’ crews performed daytime and nighttime fireplace from large-calibre machine weapons and small arms at targets simulating unmanned boats and unmanned aerial automobiles of a mock enemy,” Russia’s Interfax information company reported, citing a press release from the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Iran’s Press TV stated naval teams from Azerbaijan, South Africa, Oman, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka have been additionally observing the drills.
Though China and Russia don’t usually patrol waters within the Center East, the area’s waterways have grow to be more and more militarised in recent times.
The Chinese language, Iranian, and Russian navies kicked off a joint train close to the Iranian port of Chabahar.
Codenamed “Safety Belt-2025”, the train will embrace drills on hanging maritime targets, injury management, and joint search and rescue operations. It goals to strengthen… pic.twitter.com/YqoHwhOeor
— CGTN Europe (@CGTNEurope) March 11, 2025
In late 2023, Yemen’s Houthis started attacking ships linked to Israel within the Pink Sea, in what they are saying is an act of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The Houthis paused their assaults after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel started in January however have threatened to renew navy operations if Israel doesn’t elevate its renewed siege of Gaza, during which it has been blocking meals, medication and different important provides from coming into the war-torn territory for 10 days.
The US and different Western international locations have additionally elevated their presence within the Pink Sea, with a 10-nation force introduced in December 2023 to counter Houthi assaults. The US Navy additionally has a fleet based mostly in Bahrain.
Iran nuclear programme
This yr’s naval drills come as US President Donald Trump stated he had sent a letter to the Iranian management looking for to revive talks on a nuclear deal, years after Trump withdrew the US from a earlier deal throughout his first time period in workplace.
“There are two methods Iran will be dealt with: militarily, otherwise you make a deal,” Trump informed Fox Enterprise final week.
Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused Washington of looking for to impose even larger restrictions on Iran than in earlier negotiations.
“Some bully governments insist on negotiations,” he stated, based on state media. “However their negotiations should not geared toward fixing points, however to dominate and impose their very own expectations.”
“For them, negotiation is a way to introduce new calls for. The difficulty isn’t just about nuclear issues, they elevate new expectations that Iran will definitely not settle for,” Khamenei stated.
Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.
Regardless of complying with the nuclear settlement for greater than a yr after the US withdrawal, Iran step by step lowered its commitments, citing the failure of the deal’s remaining signatories to guard its pursuits.
In contrast to Israel, which is believed to have some 90 nuclear warheads, Iran just isn’t thought to have developed any of its personal nuclear weapons.
