State media reported that a grouping of ships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet, led by the Varyag cruiser, arrived at the Iranian port of Chabahar on Monday ahead of the drills that will see representatives from the navies of Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan and South Africa act as observers.
For its part, China’s defence ministry said the drills – called “Maritime Security Belt – 2024” – were aimed at “jointly maintaining regional maritime security”.
“China will send … guided-missile destroyer Urumqi, guided-missile frigate Linyi and comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu to participate in the exercise,” the ministry added in a statement, without providing further details.
Iranian state media, meanwhile, reported that the exercise’s goal is to strengthen “the security of international maritime trade, combating piracy and maritime terrorism”, among others.
The drills come as a United States-led naval coalition has been operating in Red Sea waters since December 2023 trying to counter the Houthi attacks.
Separately, some 20,000 troops from 13 NATO members are conducting drills in the north of new member Sweden as well as its neighbours Finland and Norway.
The Nordic exercise is part of wider exercises called Steadfast Defender 24, the largest in decades for the US-led military alliance, with up to 90,000 troops taking part over several months.
The alliance says the intention is “to demonstrate NATO’s ability to defend every inch of its territory” – widely seen as a signal to Russia.
Iranian state media, meanwhile, reported that the exercise’s goal is to strengthen “the security of international maritime trade, combating piracy and maritime terrorism”, among others.
Isn’t Iran the nation that is giving intelligence and missiles to Houthi rebels that are causing the current danger to shipping in the Red Sea? A karmic response would be if an Iranian ship was hit by an Iranian missile in the Red Sea fired by the Houthis.
And Iran has in recent history threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz by deploying sea mines.
Maybe their role in the exercise is to simulate the bad guys?
Good to see a multipolar world arising from the rubble of Gaza. The US and Israel have brought nothing but death and misery to millions in the Middle East
Edit: Triggered the Muricans
Cool story, blyat.
Compared to the peaceful nations of China, Iran and Russia?
How many Iraqis or Palestinians have been murdered by China or Russia?
Well hey, if whataboutism is allowed:
Uighurs. Ukraine.
You cannot expect to be a sino/russophilic cheerleader and not get those counterpoint immediately.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/09/1101162
350K Syrians. But fuck them amirite?
Who created the vacuum in Iraq that led to the creation of IsIs? It wasn’t the Russians.
Like it or not, it’s Russians propping up Assad and doing the killing, with boots on the ground. None of this started with ISIS, it started with the Arab Spring.
Or Ukrainians, or Uyghurs? Russia’s main security strategy involves using people against each other, this isn’t exactly a great look.
I was talking about the Middle East which is what this article is referencing. The US and Israeli dominance of this region needs to end if there’s to be any chance of peace.
Yeah can’t allow a tiny bit of land to people who don’t conform to Middle Eastern demands, or there will be no peace!
You are ignoring Russia working directly with Syria and Azerbaijan and Turkiye.
It doesn’t matter who is conducting the genocide, it is condemnable.
It doesn’t matter if Israel conducts a genocide with US weapons and political support though does it?
Rhetorical question is highly rhetorical. I spend most of my free time working to undermine Likud. The government doesn’t give a fuck what I personally think.
Just did some maths.
If the whole Iranian navy and the whole Russian Pacific Fleet participates along with the three named Chinese ships, their combined displacement will be almost as much as a single Gerard R. Ford class carrier - 80% of it, actually. To be fair though, one quarter of the displacement is the comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu, which is a big military cargo ship, not a direct combat vessel.
Americans love their floating fortresses
