As US Flexes Muscle, China, Russia, Iran Hold Drills

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Cape Town ~ Chinese, Russian and Iranian warships arrived in South African waters for a week of naval drills starting Friday off the coast of Cape Town as geopolitical tensions run high over the United States' intervention in Venezuela and its move to seize tankers carrying Venezuelan oil.

The Chinese-led drills were organised last year under the BRICS bloc of developing nations and South Africa's armed forces said they will bring members of the bloc together to practice maritime safety and anti-piracy operations and“deepen cooperation.”

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China, Russia and South Africa are longtime members of BRICS, while Iran joined the group in 2024.

The Iranian navy was taking part in the drills while protests grow back home against the Islamic Republic's leadership.

It was not immediately clear if other countries from the BRICS group - which also includes Brazil, India and the United Arab Emirates among others - would take part in the drills. A spokesperson for the South African armed forces said he wasn't yet able to confirm all the countries participating in the drills, which are due to run until next Friday.

Chinese, Russian and Iranian ships have been seen moving into and out of the harbour that serves South Africa's top naval base in Simon's Town, south of Cape Town, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. China's ships include the Tangshan, a 161-metre (528-foot) -long destroyer class vessel.

South Africa also hosted Chinese and Russian ships for navy drills in 2023.

The latest drills were meant to happen in late November but were delayed for diplomatic reasons because South Africa hosted Western and other world leaders for the Group of 20 summit around the same time.

The drills are bound to further strain ties between the US and South Africa, which is the most advanced economy in Africa and a leading voice for the continent but has been especially targeted for criticism by the Trump administration.

US President Donald Trump said in an executive order in February that South Africa supports“bad actors on the world stage” and singled out its ties with Iran as one of the reasons for the US cutting funding to the country. China and Russia have often used BRICS forums to launch criticism of the US and the West.

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