Navy Cmdr says Iran, China, Russia to stage tripartite drills soon
Navy Commander Rear-Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said on Wednesday that Iranian, Chinese and Russian Naval forces are to conduct a tripartite maneuver in the north Indian Ocean in the near future.
Khanzadi made the remarks at a news conference held in Tehran on the occasion of national Navy Day on November 28.
Initial planning has been done and the forces are getting ready for holding the drills, the Navy commander said.
He added that several other maneuvers will be carried out after this one which are all considered as exercise for the upcoming Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) conference in late February to boost convergence among naval forces in order to settle security in the north Indian Ocean with the help of all regional forces.
Launched by India in 2008, IONS has 24 members including Iran.
The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium organizes series of biennial meetings among littoral states of the Indian Ocean region.
Iranian capital hosted the sixth conference of IONS in April, 2018.
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