China, Iran, Russia carry out joint naval drills amid rising US headwinds
- Three-day exercise in strategically key Gulf of Oman aimed to showcase capability to ‘jointly safeguard maritime security’, Beijing says
- Drills came at a time of rising tensions with the US for all three, but economic and geopolitical concerns may have played bigger role, says expert
The exercise, held from Tuesday to Thursday, aimed to demonstrate the capability of the three nations to “jointly safeguard maritime security” and promote regional peace and stability, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
The first such trilateral exercise in December 2019 was also conducted in the strategically important Gulf of Oman, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s most important oil transit chokepoint.
According to Yang Jin, a Russian affairs researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, the joint drills were of strategic significance, and demonstrated the willingness of the three countries to enhance cooperation in international affairs and maintain regional stability.
“All [three nations] face enormous geopolitical pressure and threats from foreign powers,” Yang said. “Relations between Iran and the US in particular have been strained over the Iranian nuclear issue”.
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Zhou Chenming, a researcher at the Yuan Wang military science and technology institute in Beijing, called the joint exercise a “normal” event that had been decided upon last year.
However, he noted that it showed how China attached great importance to security in the Gulf of Oman and nearby waters out of economic concerns.
A fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, while China has a strategic interest in the Iranian port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman.
As for Russia, the drills indicated Moscow’s intention to expand its sphere of influence in the region after the decline of US military presence in the Middle East and Afghanistan, Zhou said.
“The stability of the Persian Gulf is very important to China as Chinese goods are shipped to Europe through this waterway, and ships also bring back oil, so China has its own concerns here,” he explained.
“Iran also wants to increase international visibility, and strengthen its hand by deepening cooperation with Russia and China as it struggles to revive the nuclear deal.”