By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

Thanks to the Islamic Revolution, Iran is not just the paramount naval power in the region today, but a world-class nation in this field with its fleets cruising around the high seas and having a telling presence in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Unlike, the pre-revolution days Iran does not acquire second class and almost obsolete frigates and destroyers from western and other countries at a high cost, with its own personnel having no proper clue to maintain ships without the services of the experts of the selling nations.
The Islamic Republic builds its own large variety of vessels including helicopter carriers and speedboats (in addition to merchant ships and oil tankers), equipped with the most sophisticated missiles in order to safeguard the maritime security and to deter any would-be-aggressors from casting their eyes on Iranian territorial waters.
The finest proof of Iran’s naval power is the ongoing exercise in the Gulf of Oman and the northern part of the Indian Ocean with the navies of the two world powers Russia and China.
The three countries had first held their joint drills in 2019 and this is the fourth time they have joined together to test their battle prowess.
Units from both the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) are participating in the sea exercises in close coordination with the flotillas from China and Russia.
China has dispatched its guided missile destroyer Nanning to take part in the drills centered on search and rescue at sea and other strategic missions.
It should be noted that China maintains a military base, complete with a navy pier, in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, on the Gulf of Aden, located just across the Gulf of Oman.
These naval drills have indeed alarmed mischief-monger US whose policy has been to sow discords among the Muslim countries.
Iran, however, as part of its principled policy of peace with all, has already notified the countries with coastlines on the Gulf of Oman, such as Oman, the UAE and Pakistan, of the benefits such exercises hold for regional security.
Some seventy percent of the international trade passes through the Indian Ocean, parts of which are infested with pirates, such as those operating off the Somali coast.
The US, and of late its surrogate the illegal Zionist entity are trying to destabilize these waters, and thus it is vital for Iran and other responsible nations of the free world to thwart such mischief and ensure the security of the vital waterways.
Tehran is determined that the unjustifiable presence of the some outside powers is the cause of concern to the flow of energy and trade, and therefore it will spare no efforts to decisively meet these challenges through all available military means, both in terms of watercraft and aircraft, which were successfully utilized in the current drills.