CHINA has hailed the recent joint naval drills with Russia and Iran in the Sea of Oman, saying the exercises boosted the ability of their navies to conduct diversified maritime missions.
Tan Kefei, a spokesman at the Chinese defence ministry, made the remarks at a press conference on Thursday, saying the military drills further deepened friendship and practical cooperation among the three countries.
He said the three nations sent forces including 12 ships, special operations and diving units to participate in the drills.
China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval exercises in the Sea of Oman from March 15-19. The military manoeuvre, dubbed the Marine Security Belt 2023, aimed to strengthen regional security.
Observers from Pakistan and Kazakhstan also participated in the drills.
Tan noted that the Chinese military is willing to work together with Russia to strengthen strategic communication and coordination.
The two countries would work together to implement global security initiatives, he said, adding that Beijing and Moscow would deepen military trust and jointly safeguard international fairness and justice.
They will also further organise joint maritime, air patrols and joint exercises, he said.
China and Russia have stepped up joint military exercises in recent years as part of their aligning of foreign policies to oppose US hegemony.
In December, the naval forces of China and Russia launched a one-week joint exercise off the coast of the Chinese Zhejiang Province in the East China Sea.
China’s Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said at the time that the joint exercise was directed at demonstrating the determination and capability of the two sides to jointly respond to maritime security threats, and further deepen the China-Russia comprehensive new-era strategic partnership of coordination.
Washington has become more vigilant about the relations between Beijing and Moscow ever since Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, struck a ‘no limits’ partnership in February 2022.
China has blamed the United States and NATO for ‘provoking’ Moscow over the Ukraine conflict and has condemned Western sanctions against Russia.
Russia has also strongly backed China amid the recent tensions between Beijing and Washington over the US’ political and military interference in Taiwan.
- The Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement has reiterated its goal of liberating the Palestinian land from the Israeli occupation, saying it will never give up an inch of the territory to the usurping regime.
In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas underscored its adherence to national unity and comprehensive resistance, as the only means to uphold the Palestinian rights and free their homeland from the river to the sea.
The statement was issued on the 47th anniversary of Land Day. This is an occasion which has been commemorated every March 30 since 1976, when six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during protests against the seizure of their land.
The day is marked annually not only by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip but also by Palestinians across the world.
‘Our people rose up on Land Day, in the Triangle, Galilee and Negev in our 1948 occupied territories, against the policy of settlement encroachment and the policy of displacement and banishment,’ the statement read.
Hamas also emphasised that Israeli schemes and crimes as well as its land theft and settlement expansion policies would not succeed in changing the Arab identity of the Palestinian land and the historical facts.
It called for further resistance to defend Palestine and more solidarity with the nation and their right to freedom, independence and return to their homeland.
- Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says he will discuss with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, the return of nuclear deal signatories to their contractual obligations under the US-abandoned agreement.
‘The window of dialogue is still open and one of the topics of conversation with Mr. Lavrov is the JCPOA and the return of parties to their commitments,’ he told reporters upon arriving in Moscow on Tuesday, using an acronym for the nuclear agreement, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Tehran and the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
However, Washington abandoned the accord in May 2018 and imposed cruel sanctions on Iran, leaving the future of the deal in limbo.
Negotiations between the parties to the JCPOA kicked off in Vienna in April 2021, with the intention of bringing the US back into the agreement and putting an end to its ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran.
The discussions, however, have been at a standstill since August 2022 due to Washington’s insistence on not lifting all of the anti-Iran sanctions and offering the necessary guarantees that it will not withdraw from or violate the accord again.
‘Russia played an important role in the new round of the Vienna talks between Iran and the 4+1 group of countries, which lasted for months,’ said Amir-Abdollahian.
‘Our Russian colleagues still keep up efforts toward the return of all sides to their commitments.’
The Iranian and Russian foreign ministers are set to hold talks about leading mutual and regional issues.
Amir-Abdollahian noted that the US policy of sanctions is a failed policy, adding, ‘The Islamic Republic believes that sanctions are a tool for economic terrorism against nations. It focused on … using the opportunity provided by sanctions for the country’s progress. We believe that today’s sanctions policy is ineffective, incorrect and a terrorist war against nations.’
He also voiced his satisfaction with developing relations between Tehran and Moscow in economic, commercial, political, cultural and tourism, security and defence sectors.
Asked about US concerns over the Iran-Russia defence ties, he reiterated that such cooperation will not be against any third party.
He also said that the volume of the Iran-Russia trade exchange has increased by more than 3.5 times in the last year and a half.
