Iran, Russia, and China sent ships that gathered for a naval drill over the weekend. The drill continued this week and illustrates the growing cooperation between the countries. Russia, Iran, and China have conducted at least four naval drills in the past. However, this year’s are larger, and they come amidst rising tensions in the Red Sea and off the coast of Yemen.
Iran’s Fars News noted, “The large-scale maritime drills, named 'Maritime Security Belt 2024 were held with naval forces of Iran, Russia, and China in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean.” The dozen ships from the three countries conducted live-fire drills. China contributed a guided-missile destroyer named Urumqi and two other warships, the Type 054A guided missile frigate Linyi and the Type 903A comprehensive replenishment ship Dongpinghu, of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's 45th escort task force. These ships had been stationed off the coast of Yemen. Russia sent a cruiser named Varyag and an anti-submarine warfare ship, Marshal Shaposhnikov, from its Pacific squadron. Russia’s navy has been hard-pressed in operations in the Black Sea against Ukraine over the last two years, and it has taken numerous losses. China’s navy has been seeking to expand its reach. China also has a rotating naval presence off the coast of East Africa. Iran’s ships include the frigates Alborz and Jamaran.
Chinese and Russian state media comment on the drills
Chinese and Russian state media both highlighted the drills. Iran says the drills cover some 17,000 square kilometers of open ocean. Global Times in China reported that “the naval forces of China, Iran, and Russia on Monday launched an exercise near the Gulf of Oman in a joint effort to safeguard regional maritime security, without targeting any third country or current regional tensions.” The ships began their drills off of the port of Chabahar, the report said. Iran has launched drones from Chabahar in the past to attack ships. “With the theme of jointly building peace and security, the exercise mainly features anti-piracy and search and rescue training courses and is organized in three phases, namely the harbor phase, the sea phase, and the summarizing phase,” the report said.
"The joint drills are conducive to enhancing exchanges and cooperation among the Chinese, Iranian, and Russian navies, and it further displayed [the three countries'] will and capability in jointly safeguarding maritime security and actively building a maritime community with a shared future," Liang Dong of the PLA Navy's 45th escort task force, said in the CCTV report. According to Chinese media, the drill was also attended by observers from Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, and South Africa. Iran has recently joined groups such as BRICS and the SCO in order to partner more closely with Russia and China. For instance, among the countries observing the drill were South Africa and India, which are in BRICS.
This naval drill is important and sends a message to Western powers. With the Iran-backed Houthis continuing to attack ships and the US, UK, and others confronting the Houthis, the drill by Iran, Russia, and China shows that the navies of the three countries have no interest in maritime security in the Red Sea but rather cooperation with each other to undermine the West.