Iran, Russia and China begin four-day joint naval exercise

Iran's armed forces are holding a four-day naval exercise with Russia and China in the northern part of the Indian Ocean.

Iranian media showed a video of a Russian frigate docking at the port of Chabahar.

"The fact that we are now hosting these powers (Russia and China) means that our relations have reached a significant point, and God willing it will have global outcomes, and its message is peace and friendship in the light of unity and responsible collective cooperation," Gen. Gholam Reza Than, deputy Iranian navy commander, said to Iran's IRINN news channel.

The drill comes as Tehran seeks to boost military cooperation with Beijing and Moscow as a response to economic sanctions from Washington.

Visits to Iran by Russian and Chinese naval representatives have increased in recent years.

Iran and Russia have also strengthened ties, with both backing President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.

In 2017, Iran conducted a joint naval exercise with China near the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, a passageway for nearly a third of all oil traded by sea.



Iran has been subjected to crippling economic sanctions since May last year, when US President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 multinational deal with Iran aimed at curbing its nuclear program.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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