Russia, China and Iran Conduct Joint Navy Drills In The Arabian Sea

The Joint Maritime Security Belt 2025 exercise involving Russian, Iranian, and Chinese warships has begun from Iran’s Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman. The Russian side is represented by the Rezky and Hero of Russia Aldar Tsydenzhapov corvettes, and the Pechenga tanker of the Pacific Fleet.

China had deployed two warships and one logistics vessel, while Iran had sent 16 naval vessels and gunboats, two auxiliary vessels and two helicopters. Apart from the Russian, Iranian and Chinese participants, delegations from more than 10 invited observer countries also took part in the opening ceremony.

This area of the northern Indian Ocean represents quite a challenging shipping region, plagued by piracy and other threats. Ilya Kramnik, a research fellow at the Centre for Strategic Planning Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on the exercise, saying: “Cooperation in these areas in peaceful times is important. But as we are living through a tense period, this cooperation also provides required training to counter a potentially larger military confrontation. Given that Russia, China and Iran are all strategic partners, this collaboration may help deter some aggressive ideas, preventing a future conflict.”

Kramnik also pointed out that such exercises are also significant amid attempts to hamper oil exports and to potentially escort oil shipping fleets.

Yury Lyamin, of the Russian University of Economics says that while, on the one hand, the exercise serves a purely practical purpose, there is also a political component to it. “This shows that Iran, Russia and China are actively strengthening their military ties, despite the pressure exerted on the three countries because of it. This shows that Iran is not entirely isolated, as long as Russia and China, the two nuclear superpowers, continue an active cooperation with it, including in the military sphere. This aspect is very important.”