TEHRAN — The navies of Iran, Russia and China will hold military drills off the coast of Iran this week in a bid to boost cooperation, reports said on Sunday. 
The three countries, which share a common desire to counter U.S. hegemony, have held similar exercises in the region in recent years.
The drills “will begin on Monday in the port of Chabahar,” located in southeast Iran on the Gulf of Oman, the Tasnim news agency said.
“Warships and combat and support vessels of the Chinese and Russian naval forces, as well as the warships of Iran’s naval forces of the army and the Revolutionary Guards” are expected to participate, according to Tasnim.
The exercises will take place “in the northern Indian Ocean” and aim to “strengthen security in the region and expand multilateral cooperation between participating countries,” Tasnim said.
China’s defense ministry said the exercises, called Security Belt 2025, aim to “deepen military mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation among the participating countries’ troops”.
The drills will incorporate training courses including maritime target strike, VBSS (visit, board, search, and seizure), damage control and joint search and rescue operations, the ministry added.
Azerbaijan, South Africa, Oman, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka will attend as observers.
China will deploy “a destroyer and a supply ship,” its defense ministry said on the WeChat social media network.
The Security Belt-2025 will be the fifth China-Iran-Russia joint naval exercise since 2019.
The Iranian army conducted drills in the same area in February to “strengthen defense capabilities against any threat.”
China played a key role in rekindling diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia in 2023.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran will not be “bullied” into negotiations, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had sent a letter to the country’s top authority to negotiate a nuclear deal.