Pictured: Warships from Iran, Russia and China deploy for major joint drills

Weeklong exercises held in the Gulf of Oman, a critical waterway near the Persian Gulf

Iranian, Russian and Chinese warships held major joint military drills this week, practising taking down drones and freeing ships hijacked by pirates.
The weeklong exercises – known as “Marine Security Belt 2024” – were held in the Gulf of Oman, a crucial waterway near the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
More than 20 ships, support vessels and combat boats from the three countries, as well as naval helicopters, are involved in the exercise.
That included two warships from the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet, Slava-class cruiser Varyag and destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov.
The China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy deployed the 45th China Naval Escort Task Force, which includes guided-missile destroyer Urumqi and guided-missile frigate Linyi to take part.
Both the Iranian Navy and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy were involved.
They practised interception and destruction of night and day aerial targets and the operation of freeing the ship hijacked by pirates, according to a statement from the Iranian army.
A report by Iranian state television quoted Adm Mostafa Tajaddini, the drill’s spokesman, as saying the drill took place in 6,600 square miles of water.
Adm Tajaddini added that the drill was also meant to improve trade, confront “piracy and terrorism, support for humanitarian activities and the exchange of information in the field of rescue”, among other goals.
Iran has stepped up its military co-operation with Beijing and Moscow in response to regional tensions with the United States, including the supply of military drones to Russia now being used in Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan and South Africa are observers of the drill.
The Gulf of Oman has seen a series of attacks since 2019 that the US has blamed on Iran, as well as ship seizures by Tehran, since the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers. A fifth of all oil traded passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf’s narrow mouth.