The growing cooperation of the three countries poses an increasing challenge to US interests in the Middle East.
China, Russia and Iran launched joint military exercises in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, the latest sign of China’s efforts to expand its influence in the Middle East.
China’s defense ministry said the five-day exercise will help deepen pragmatic cooperation between the navies of the participating countries. The exercise will pose an increasing challenge to U.S. interests in the Middle East.
A few days ago, Iran and Saudi Arabia struck a surprise diplomatic deal brokered by China, paving the way for the rebuilding of political ties between the two Gulf rivals after seven years of estrangement.
China’s expanding influence in the Middle East has brought new difficulties to the United States. The United States has tried to reduce its focus on the Middle East, turning its attention to China and Russia.
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China, Russia and Iran launched joint military exercises in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, the latest sign of China’s efforts to expand its influence in the Middle East.
China’s defense ministry said the five-day exercise will help deepen pragmatic cooperation between the navies of the participating countries. The exercise will pose an increasing challenge to U.S. interests in the Middle East.
A few days ago, Iran and Saudi Arabia struck a surprise diplomatic deal brokered by China, paving the way for the rebuilding of political ties between the two Gulf rivals after seven years of estrangement.
China’s expanding influence in the Middle East has brought new difficulties to the United States. The United States has tried to reduce its focus on the Middle East, turning its attention to China and Russia.
In 2021, U.S. intelligence learned that China was building a suspected military facility at a port in the United Arab Emirates. The project was halted after the U.S. warned the UAE government at the time that the new project could threaten U.A.E.-U.S. relations, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
China’s defense ministry said this week’s joint drill was the third such exercise by the Chinese, Iranian and Russian navies, after those in 2019 and 2022. This year, the Chinese Navy sent the guided-missile destroyer “Nanning” to participate in the military exercise.
The 2019 and 2022 exercises were also held in the Gulf of Oman, according to China’s Ministry of Defense. A Chinese guided missile destroyer participated in the 2019 exercise, and in the 2022 exercise, China sent a guided missile destroyer, a supply ship, a ship-based helicopter and 40 marines.
But the scale of the exercise was significantly smaller than that of the US military exercise. An 18-day naval exercise held by the United States in the Middle East is coming to an end. In addition to the United States, 42 countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates participated. The U.S.-led exercise is the largest in the Middle East, and the U.S. Navy said it will involve 7,000 personnel, 35 ships, and 30 unmanned and artificial intelligence systems.
Lt. Col. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, said the U.S. military conducted 70 military exercises in the Middle East last year and that of the 15 countries with maritime activities in the region, only Syria and Iran have shared cooperation with regional rivals of the United States. The U.S. Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain, which is also the headquarters of the U.S. Navy in the Middle East.
“We believe the U.S. Navy is well-positioned in the region and is the partner of choice for virtually every nation operating in the surrounding waters,” he said.
The Chinese military has long maintained a military presence in the Middle East and East Africa. China routinely deploys warships in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy operations and in 2017 opened the Chinese military’s first overseas base in Djibouti, which Beijing says is a logistical support base for the Chinese military.