‘Americans have to leave the region’: Iran says 1st joint drills with China & Russia send a message to US

Tehran’s joint naval drills with Moscow and Beijing are sending a bold message to Washington and its allies to keep out its “undesirable security arrangements,” Iran’s naval forces commander stated.

“The era of inroads by the Americans in the region has ended and they have to gradually leave the region,” Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi proclaimed, as cited by local media.

The trilateral naval exercise is being held to “boost security in the region.” But aside from that, it has sent “a highly significant message” to the US “and their sidekicks,” the top officer added.

China has sent 'Xining' destroyer © Iranian army office / AFP

Previously, Iran bluntly warned those interested in gathering intelligence to keep clear from the drills. Its navy was instructed to target “whatever spying craft in the war game zone, be it watercraft or aircraft.”

The naval drills kicked off on Friday in Iran's port city of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman. They involve an array of training missions, such as counter-piracy and rescue operations.

Tensions flared up around Iranian waters earlier this year after four merchant ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, at an Emirati port in the Gulf of Oman, were hit in a mysterious attack the US and their allies blamed on Iran.

Shortly thereafter, two other tankers were damaged by what appeared to be limpet mines while sailing through the Gulf of Oman, with Iran being labeled a culprit again. Citing the need to quell “provocative actions” by Iran, the US launched a maritime “policing” mission in the Middle East waters, but found only limited support among its allies.

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