Iran, Russia, China Conduct Joint Naval Drills in Gulf of Oman

Iran, Russia, and China commenced joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman this week, marking the fifth consecutive year of such drills, Al Jazeera reports.

The “Marine Security Belt 2025” exercises, which began near the Iranian port of Chabahar on Tuesday, are aimed at strengthening cooperation between the participating nations’ naval forces, according to China’s CGTN news.

CGTN reports that the drills will focus on “striking maritime targets, damage control, and joint search and rescue operations.”

“Over the course of two days, the ships’ crews conducted daytime and nighttime fire from large-calibre machine guns and small arms at targets simulating unmanned boats and unmanned aerial vehicles of a mock enemy,” Russia’s Interfax news agency reported, citing a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Beyond the core participants, naval groups from Azerbaijan, South Africa, Oman, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Sri Lanka are observing the exercises, according to Iran’s Press TV.

While China and Russia do not typically patrol Middle Eastern waters, the region’s waterways have become increasingly militarized in recent years. The drills occur amidst escalating tensions in the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Houthis have been attacking ships linked to Israel since late 2023 in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The Houthi attacks were temporarily suspended following a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in January. However, the group has threatened to resume operations if Israel does not lift its renewed siege of Gaza, which has seen food, medicine, and other essential supplies blocked from entering the war-torn territory for the past 10 days.

The United States and other Western nations have increased their naval presence in the Red Sea, establishing a 10-nation force in December 2023 to counter the Houthi attacks. The US Navy also maintains a fleet based in Bahrain.

These naval exercises coincide with reports that US President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Iranian leadership seeking to revive nuclear deal talks. Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and subsequently re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused Washington of seeking to impose even greater restrictions on Iran than in previous negotiations. Despite adhering to the nuclear agreement for over a year following the US withdrawal, Iran gradually reduced its commitments in response to the remaining signatories’ failure to adequately protect its interests.

Unlike Israel, which is believed to possess approximately 90 nuclear warheads, Iran is not believed to have developed its own nuclear weapons.