Iran, Russia, China to conduct joint naval exercise in Indian Ocean
Russia continues to seek opportunities to expand its influence in the Middle East, the head of CENTCOM said Monday.
Russia, China and Iran will kick off a joint naval exercise in the northern Indian Ocean this month, the Kremlin’s ambassador to Iran said Monday.
Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan told Russia’s RIA news agency that the exercises would include search and rescue and shipping safety drills.
In December 2019, the three countries held a joint naval exercise in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman as tensions escalated between Washington and Tehran.
Six months prior to that exercise, two civilian oil tankers were bombed in an attack the United States blamed on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), though officials in Tehran denied responsibility.
