Iranian Naval Exercise to Cement Russian and Chinese Support Concludes
The annual Iranian-hosted Exercise Maritime Security Belt with the participation of Russian and Chinese ships got underway on March 11 concluded on March 15. The exercise took place in the waters off Chahbahar on Iran’s eastern border with Pakistan. This was the seventh iteration of the exercise.
The exercise featured three phases of activity: an assembly and preparation phase, a maritime drill phase and a harbor summary lessons-learned phase, concluding with the customary fleet review. The overnight maritime phase - which will have been a boon to Iranian sailors fasting for Ramadan - included practicing offensive actions against maritime targets, visit/board/search and seizure operations, damage control procedures, and joint search and rescue drills.
Given the sea time needed to assemble the participating fleet, with the Chinese deploying from Djibouti and the Russians from Vladivostok, the active part of the exercise was extremely short, almost symbolic in character, emphasizing that the exercise had greater political significance this year than in previous years.
Sensing pressure from the new Trump administration, Iran has been seeking to strengthen its defense alliances, in the hope that they will provide some restraint to direct action against Iran’s nuclear weapons development programmer and ballistic missile capability. Both these capabilities were damaged by recent Israeli direct action, but remain largely intact and extant as a threat, with senior Iranian officers promising that Exercise True Promise-3, the next attack on Israel, will go ahead and has been scheduled.
There will also be fears in Iran that both Russia and China may have much more to gain by doing deals with the Trump administration, rather than persisting with support for Iran - which in overall terms could be seen as a cost rather than a benefit. Russia benefits - particularly while the Ukraine war continues - from Iranian shipments of missiles and drones, and China enjoys cheap Iranian oil. But the cost of being Iran’s best friends is to be associated with Iranian expansionism across the Middle East, adventurism which damages both American interests but also other regional countries which both Russia and China have far more profitable and productive relationships with. Chinese support for Iran has in any case always had some limitations. The Trump administration has been forthright in its determination to close down the threat from Iran, but less demonstrative about the threat posed by Russia. This all makes the Iranians nervous.
Holding the exercise in the waters off Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan also speaks to the threat posed by continuing separatist unrest in the province which is claiming a steady stream of Iranian security force casualties. While the insurgency is largely supported from across the land border from Pakistan, which has its own problems with Baluch separatists, Iran claims the insurgency is supported by unidentified foreign backers. Hence signaling an improved coastal defenses and surveillance capability to deter arms smuggling in this area will be a priority. China also has an interest in security in Baluchistan, as Chinese economic and commercial assets working on Belt and Road Initiatives have been subject to terrorist attacks in the area in the recent past.
Chinese participation came from the 47 th Naval Escort Group which commenced its deployment to Djibouti in December. The ships deployed were the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Baotou (F113) and the Type 903A replenishment ship Gaoyouhu (K904). The Chinese normally deploy three ships for this exercise, so representation this year was smaller than previously.
The Russian contingent for the exercise as expected consisted of the Steregushchiy Class Project 20380 missile corvettes Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov (F339) and Rezkiy (F343), plus the oiler Pechenga (IMO 7710977). On March 4 this flotilla from the Vladivostok-based Pacific Fleet concluded a live firing exercise in the Eastern Indian Ocean, en route to Chahbahar for the exercise.
Iranian vessels deployed consisted mainly of the ships which participated in a naval fleet review off Bandar Abbas on February 26, led by the Alvand and Moudge Class frigates IRINS Alvand (F71) and IRINS Jamaran (F76) and the obsolescent IRINS Bayandor (F81), with a number of fast attack missile boats. The IRGC Navy was represented by the catamaran missile corvette Shahid Soleimani (PC313-01). The converted oil tanker Shahid Bagheri (C110-4) did not put in an appearance as was expected, tending to confirm reports that is not yet operationally viable as a platform for launching drones.
Naval staff from Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates attended the exercise as observers.