Iran, China, Russia start naval drills

Iran, China and Russia started four days of joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman yesterday, the commander of Iran’s flotilla announced.

The exercise comes at a time of heightened tensions since the United States withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in May last year.

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“The message of this exercise is peace, friendship and lasting security through cooperation and unity ... and its effect will be to show that Iran cannot be isolated,” Rear Admiral Gholamreza Tahani said on state television.

The United States reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran after quitting the nuclear deal last year, prompting Tehran to hit back with countermeasures by dropping nuclear commitments.

In June, US President Donald Trump authorised a military strike after Iran shot down a US drone, only to call off the retaliation at the last moment. The crisis deepened with September 14 attacks on Saudi oilfields, which halved the kingdom’s crude output.

Yemen’s Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack but Washington accused Tehran, a charge it has strongly denied. Washington has responded with a military build-up in the Gulf and has launched an operation with its allies to protect navigation in Gulf waters.