Iran and Russia Joint Exercise Begins with Motto of ‘Maritime Trade Security’
Iran and Russia are conducting a joint military exercise in the northern Indian Ocean. The United States previously stated in response to the “Iran-Russia Combined Maritime Security Belt Exercise” that it does not find it unexpected and does not consider it an obstacle for itself in this region.
According to the Army’s media base report, Iran and Russia will launch a joint military exercise named “Iran-Russia Combined Maritime Security Belt Exercise” on Tuesday, February 28 (February 16). This exercise will take place in the northern Indian Ocean.
Gholamreza Tahani, spokesperson for the exercise, stated: “In this exercise, in addition to surface and air units of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, Russian naval units consisting of the destroyer Stoiky, the logistics ship KoLa, and one helicopter are present.”
According to him, this exercise will be conducted in an area spanning 17,000 kilometers with the motto “Collective Cooperation at Sea for Maritime Trade Security.” The objectives of the exercise include expanding bilateral cooperation between the two countries, combating piracy and maritime terrorism, exchanging information in the field of maritime rescue and relief, and exchanging operational and tactical experiences. The exercise schedule has been predetermined.
US Response
John Kirby, Pentagon spokesperson, responded to the Iran-Russia joint exercise, stating that the exercise is not unexpected and does not consider it an obstacle to US capabilities or freedom of maritime navigation and “continuing support for our allies and partners around the world.”
Simultaneously, Levan Jagaryan, Russian Ambassador to Iran, told the Tasnim News Agency that the Russian Federation, Iran, and China are preparing to conduct a joint military-naval exercise in the northern regions of the Indian Ocean in mid-February. The first trilateral military-naval exercise of Iran, Russia, and China, titled “Maritime Security Belt,” was held more than a year ago in late December 2019.
Warning to the United States
At that time, although Chinese officials spoke of the “good faith” of their country, China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, which expresses the Chinese government’s views and positions, explicitly considered the joint Iran, Russia, and China exercise in regional waters as a “warning” to the United States. The newspaper wrote that the aforementioned exercise would help strengthen China’s ability to maintain stability in the Persian Gulf and “demonstrates that China and Russia, as two major and responsible powers in the world, after the United States withdrew from the nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018, support Iran and this agreement.”
This exercise was also assessed as a response to the joint US-Saudi Arabia military exercise. The Associated Press reported in this regard that Tehran intends to expand its military cooperation with Russia and China in response to US economic sanctions.
At the same time, on November 26 of the same year, China also conducted another joint exercise with Saudi Arabia at the port of Jeddah in the Red Sea, the purpose of which was also stated as “combating maritime terrorism and piracy.”
Several months before this exercise, tensions in the Persian Gulf reached their peak with attacks on tankers off the coasts of the UAE and Saudi Arabia and a missile attack on Saudi oil facilities. The Pentagon spokesperson regarding these attacks had stated: “We are carefully monitoring the movements of the Islamic Republic and its proxy groups and are in a good position to defend US interests.”
Source: DW
