Iran, China and Russia yesterday began their first joint naval exercises in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman, which Moscow described as an unprecedented exercise in naval cooperation and training.
The waters around Iran have come to the center of international tensions as the US presses for an end to Iranian crude oil sales and other trade ties.
"The message of this exercise is peace, friendship and permanent security through cooperation and unity ... and its result will be to show that Iran cannot be isolated," Iranian flotilla admiral Golamreza Tahani said on state television.
"These exercises show that the relations between Iran, Russia and China have reached a new high level and this trend will continue in the coming years," Tahani added.
Jonathan Eyal from the Institute of Joint Royal Services from London, assessed that the three countries designed this initiative to send a message that the influence of the United States in the region is weakening.
"It is a carefully calculated exercise in which all three participants are winners: Iran can claim to be a regional power, Russia can demonstrate its role as a key player in the Middle East, and China can demonstrate that it is a global maritime power," Eyal said.
"The strategic message is that these are the states that shape events in the Middle East."
The Gulf of Oman is a particularly sensitive waterway because it connects to the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes and which connects to the Persian Gulf.
Washington proposed the US-led naval mission after several attacks in May and June on international merchant ships, including Saudi tankers, in Gulf waters. The US has blamed Iran for the attacks, which it has denied involvement.
In June, Tehran shot down a US reconnaissance drone and seized a British tanker for allegedly being in its territorial waters.
Iran opposes the presence of foreign forces in the Gulf of Oman and has threatened to threaten oil supplies to all countries if the US or regional countries block the sale of its crude oil.
Last year, President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the six-nation Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, which are hitting its economy hard.
Before the sanctions, Iran's crude oil sales were 2,8 million barrels per day, but have now fallen to less than 500.000 barrels per day. China is believed to have remained Iran's main client.
Tensions in the region have risen not only over the disputed Iranian program but also over attacks in September on Saudi oil facilities, which the US and Saudi Arabia have blamed on Iran. Tehran rejects these accusations as well.
China said on Thursday it was sending a guided-missile destroyer for four days of exercises, which it described as "normal military cooperation" between the three armed forces.
A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense announced that the exercises are not necessarily related to the situation in the region.
China has close diplomatic, trade and energy ties with Iran, which is on friendly terms with Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced yesterday that it had sent three ships from the Baltic Fleet to the exercises - a frigate, a tanker and a rescue tug, Red Star, the official newspaper of the Russian Armed Forces, announced.
Moscow has said that the joint exercises are legal and aimed at ensuring regional stability.
"We deal with the issues of preserving stability in the region, security and the fight against terrorism," said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Russia and China are also on good terms with Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional rival.
The maneuvers, which include tactical exercises such as the rescue of attacked frigates, began in the port city of Chabahar in southeastern Iran and will continue in the northern parts of the Indian Ocean.
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