UAE Joins in an Exercise With the Iranian Navy for the First Time
With Exercise Mosi-3 - now renamed Exercise Will for Peace 2026 - scheduled to start with a dockside parade on January 10, naval participants have begun arriving in False Bay near Cape Town in South Africa, home of the Simon’s Town Naval Base.
As predicted, Russian Steregushchiy-class corvette Stoykiy (F545) and its escorting Altay-class oiler Yelnya (A168) have been seen in harbor, having completed a port call to Walvis Bay. The Chinese People Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Type 052DL guided-missile destroyer Tangshan (D122) and the Type 903A replenishment ship Taihu (K889), from the PLAN’s 48th Flotilla, have joined following their port visit to Mombasa.
The first Iranian Navy vessel (Nedaja) vessel to arrive in Simon’s Town was the converted tanker and forward base ship IRINS Makran (K441). As a converted oil tanker, IRINS Makran could be particularly useful during the exercise if drills are to be practiced on how to fend off boarding attempts on dark fleet vessels. It was later joined by the Bayandor Class corvette IRINS Naghdi (F82) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy's own converted oil tanker, IRIS Shahid Mahdavi (L110-3), which serves as an expeditionary sea base.
A surprise participant is from the United Arab Emirates is the French-built Gowind-2500 Class corvette Bani Yas (P110). The Emirati participation marks the first time the UAE Navy has exercised with Iranian naval forces.
The South African Navy participant appears to be the Blohm+Voss-built Valour-class frigate SAS Amatola (F145), but additional South African vessels are also likely to join.
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A South African defense spokesman has said that observers will attend from Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil. There is no indication that the remaining countries of the eleven nation BRICS group - India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia – will either participate or observe.
The aim of the exercise is to practice naval drills supporting the protection of commercial shipping in shipping lanes, including counter-terrorism rescue and maritime strike operations. Exercise Will for Peace 2026 is scheduled to last until January 16, and is the first naval exercise to be held under the auspices of BRICS, hitherto seen as an economic bloc. The exercise director is from the PLAN.