TEHRAN - Deputy chief of the Iranian Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari in a meeting with Commander-in-Chief of Russia’s Navy Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov has said that his country will enhance cooperation with its allies, including Russia, to counter threats posed to regional security by “global arrogance.”
In the meeting, Rear Admiral Sayyari urged vigilance to prevent any domination of the global arrogance.
“We do not want to dominate and attack any country, but we stand against any threats and arrogant domination. In this regard, we will strengthen our cooperation and synergy with friendly and allied countries, including Russia,” Sayyari said.
“We must certainly be strong to ensure security and peace in the region… Also, we must have unity and synergy, and use each other’s experiences in such a way that … leads to effective deterrence.”
The commander also expressed the Iranian Army’s readiness to implement joint cooperation projects with Russia in the fields of making mutual visits, improving the quality of military competitions, as well as maritime patrols and exercises, ensuring economic security, taking counter-terrorism measures, conducting maritime search and rescue operations and trainings, and helping damaged vessels.
He further hailed the capability of Iran’s Navy, saying the force has faithful and knowledgeable employees and state-of-the-art surface and subsurface equipment.
Nikolai Yevmenov also met with Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani and called for the promotion of naval cooperation with Iran, expressing readiness to reach bilateral agreements with the Iranian Navy in various fields.
The Russian admiral stressed the significance of increasing ties between the Iranian and Russian naval forces and expressed hope that his trip to Iran would lead to further improvement of cooperation between the two countries’ navies.
Yevmenov added that the Russian Navy is ready to reach an agreement with Iran on further promotion of bilateral interaction.
For his part, Irani said the presence of Russian naval forces in three joint drills with Iran and China conveyed a “very important” message to their common enemy.
Back in March, the naval forces of Iran, China and Russia held maritime drills, dubbed “naval security belt combined war game 202,” in the Sea of Oman, as the three countries have doubled their efforts to deepen cooperation among their navies.
Iranian naval forces, together with their Chinese and Russian counterparts, have held several joint war games in recent years with the purpose of improving the security of international maritime trade, exchange of information in naval rescue and relief operations, exchange of operational and tactical experiences, as well as countering piracy and maritime terrorism.
Irani hailed efforts of Russian naval forces to stage joint drills with Iran and China and stressed the importance of forming a joint committee to boost interaction in different sectors, particularly in educational and technical fields.
Iranian naval vessels, he added, have today made voyages to important ports, including Port of St. Petersburg, and circumnavigated the globe.
“Following the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran … put the appropriate use of the sea on its agenda. After pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden, the Navy developed its powerful presence in international waters … and even helped many countries.”
The Russian admiral also stressed enhanced cooperation between the naval forces of the two countries.
The Iranian and Russian navies enjoy close relations and have staged several joint exercises.