Festival of Joint Naval Drills in Persian Gulf

The Iran-China joint naval drill is going to be held tomorrow near the strategic Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman amid the ongoing tension in relations between Persian Gulf littoral states.

The Chinese flotilla of warships, which is comprised of the guided-missile destroyer Chang Chun (DDG-150), guided-missile frigate Jin Zhou (FFG-532), and Type 903 replenishment ship Chao Hu (890), berthed at Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Thursday.

The Sunday’s drill will be conducted at the end of the Chinese delegation’s four-day visit to Iran.

Iran and China are holding the exercises a couple of days after the US-Qatar joint naval drills in Persian Gulf.

The US and Qatari vessels, which took part in the drill off Qatar’s east coast, included gunboats as well as coastguard and supply vessels. Four ships from the US Navy had participated in the joint exercise.

Two US Navy vessels arrived in Doha on Wednesday. The development came on the same day that the United States and Qatar signed a deal for the purchase of F-15 fighter jets with an initial cost of 12 billion dollars.

The joint drills are coming amid a recent move by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and a number of other Arab and non-Arab states to cut their diplomatic ties with Qatar over its alleged support for terrorism.