- Chinese, Russian warships, combat ships to participate in the exercises.
- Exercises to extend multilateral links between participating countries.
- Azerbaijan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and more countries to attend as observers.
The Marines of Iran, Russia and China will hold military exercises off Iran’s coast this week in order to stimulate cooperation, Iranian media reported on Sunday.
The three countries, which share a common desire to counter what they describe as American hegemony, have organized similar exercises in the region in recent years.
The exercises “will start Tuesday in the port of Chabahar”, located in southeast Iran on the Gulf of Oman, the Tasnim news agency said, without specifying their duration.
“War ships and combat and support ships of the Chinese and Russian naval forces, as well as the war ships of the Iranian Naval Forces of the Army and Revolutionary Guards” should participate, according to the Tasnim.
The exercises will take place “in the north of the Indian Ocean” and will aim to “strengthen security in the region and expand multilateral cooperation between participating countries”, Tasnim said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Moscow would be represented by two corvettes and an oil tanker from the Pacific.
“For several days in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, the crews will lead to the release tasks of captured ships, research and rescue at sea as well as artillery fire at sea and air targets,” added the press release.
With Pakistan, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Oman, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka will also attend the event as observers.
China will deploy “a destroyer and a supply ship,” said the Beijing Ministry of Defense on the WeChat social media network.
The Iranian army carried out exercises in the same area in February to “strengthen the defense capacities against any threat”.
