Other Gulf oil guards ... Washington's opponents show off their might in the Indian Ocean

Tehran-Al-Jazeera Net

In an area that includes important oil crossings, maneuvers between Iran, Russia and China were launched today, Friday, in India, to "enhance international maritime trade security, combat piracy, and exchange information and experiences in the field of maritime rescue."

If the maneuvers raise the slogan of protecting "marine navigation", they bear political and military symbolism for being held in a region where Washington has exercised strong influence for decades under the pretext of ensuring the flow of oil supplies to world markets.

Over the past months, the waters around Iran have become a hub of international tensions
The United States is pressuring to stop Iranian oil sales.

Admiral Ghulam Reza Tahani, the assistant commander of the Iranian Naval Forces for Operations Affairs, announced the launch of major naval exercises between Iran, Russia and China in the northern Indian Ocean Friday morning.

These countries have economic ties and strategic interests in the Middle East, and they all have political and commercial rivalries with the United States of America.

Admiral Tahani said that this is the first time that Iran "since the victory of the Islamic Revolution has carried out joint exercises with the two great maritime powers in the world (Russia and China) at this level. Certainly, the countries closest to each other economically, politically, socially and security work together to provide collective security." ".

He explained that the tactical exercises are varied, including "saving ships subject to fire and freeing ships that are attacked and throwing at specific targets and all other tactical and operational exercises planned."

The Three Gorges
On the importance of the maneuvers, he said that the Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean in the world and overlooked by very important countries and includes the three important straits: Bab Al Mandab, Malaga and Hormuz.

He added that the message of these maneuvers is peace, friendship and sustainable security in light of cooperation and collective union, and one of its results is that "isolation cannot be imposed on Iran."

The exercises cover an area of ​​17,000 km, and are scheduled to last four days.

The importance of these maneuvers lies in the fact that Tehran proposed it for the first time after targeting the Saudi Aramco facilities and the escalation of American pressure on Iran, according to the researcher at the Middle East Center for Strategic Studies Abbas Aslani.

Letter to America
Aslani added to Al Jazeera Net that the exercises carry a message to the American side regarding the impossibility of isolating Iran. He explained that the Russians are participating in the exercise according to the "collective security vision" previously submitted by Moscow to the United Nations.

Also, as the largest oil importer, Beijing sees its interest in establishing security in the Strait of Hormuz, through which it flows about a fifth of the world's oil supplies.

The maneuvers come amid escalating US-Iranian tension, against the backdrop of Washington's exit from the nuclear agreement and its return to sanctions on Tehran on the one hand, and the targeting of oil tankers in Gulf waters on the other.

Aslani said that strengthening Tehran’s cooperation with major powers such as China and Russia would fail the American efforts to isolate Iran, and would reduce the possibility of taking a military step against it.

For his part, Hussein Delerian, a researcher in military affairs, believes that the maneuvers are related to the orientation of the participating countries towards the American presence during the past years in the Middle East regarding the security of the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of ​​Oman.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Delerian considered that the maneuvers came in the context of showing the Islamic Republic’s strength regarding the American and British interventions in the Gulf waters, which is an indication that Beijing and Moscow stand by Tehran in relation to the common agendas.

The nucleus of a strategic alliance
He added that "the maneuvers that started this morning constitute the beginning of a comprehensive military cooperation of the participating countries after the end of the UN arms embargo imposed on Iran."

The UN arms embargo is due to expire in October 2020 under the terms of the nuclear agreement signed between Tehran and the six major powers in 2015.

The researcher expected in military affairs that military cooperation between Tehran, Moscow and Beijing will turn into a strategic alliance soon, "and the three countries will continue - according to their goals and common interests - military exercises periodically during the coming periods."

He believed that the military cooperation between Tehran, Moscow and Beijing will cause some parties to back away from participating in the US-led coalition to be formed, "in order to avoid any possible confrontation with this trio."

In the Iranian parliament, the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee saw that the maneuvers that started today indicate the failure of US military diplomacy to isolate Iran from the world.

Committee member Alaeddin Borroujroudi said that the maneuvers send an important message that the time for American arrogance in the region is over.