Iran calls for promotion of maritime coop with China, Russia

In a Monday meeting with Commander-in-Chief of Russia's Navy Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov in Tehran, 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.

The Russian admiral, for his part, 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.