China, Iran and Russia Hold Joint Naval Drills in Mideast as Tensions Rise between Tehran and US

 A Chinese warship attending a naval drill with Iran and Russia arrives at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP)
A Chinese warship attending a naval drill with Iran and Russia arrives at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP)
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China, Iran and Russia Hold Joint Naval Drills in Mideast as Tensions Rise between Tehran and US

 A Chinese warship attending a naval drill with Iran and Russia arrives at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP)
A Chinese warship attending a naval drill with Iran and Russia arrives at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP)

China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval drills Tuesday in the Middle East, offering a show of force in a region still uneasy over Tehran's rapidly expanding nuclear program and as Yemen's Houthi militias threaten new attacks on ships.

The joint drills, called the Maritime Security Belt 2025, took place in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude oil traded worldwide passes. The area around the strait in the past has seen Iran seize commercial ships and launch suspected attacks in the time since President Donald Trump first unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.

The drill marked the fifth year the three countries took part in the drills.

This year’s drill likely sparked a warning late Monday from the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which said there was GPS interference in the strait, with disruptions lasting for several hours and forcing crews to rely on backup navigation methods.

“This was likely GPS jamming to reduce the targeting capability of drones and missiles,” wrote Shaun Robertson, an intelligence analyst at the EOS Risk Group. “However, electronic navigation system interference has been reported in this region previously during periods of increased tension and military exercises.”

Russia's Defense Ministry identified the vessels it sent to the drill as the corvettes Rezky and the Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov, as well as the tanker Pechenega. China's Defense Ministry said it sent the guided-missile destroyer Baotou and the comprehensive supply ship Gaoyouhu. Neither offered a count of the personnel involved.

Neither China nor Russia actively patrol the wider Middle East, whose waterways remain crucial for global energy supplies.

Both China and Russia have deep interests in Iran. For China, it has continued to purchase Iranian crude oil despite facing Western sanctions, likely at a discount compared to global prices. Beijing also remains one of the top markets for Iranian imports.

Russia, meanwhile, has relied on Iran for the supply of bomb-carrying drones it uses in its war on Ukraine.

The drills marked a major moment for Iran's state-run television network. It's aired segments showing live-fire during a night drill and sailors manning deck guns on a vessel. The exercises come after an Iranian monthslong drill that followed a direct Israeli attack on the country, targeting its air defenses and sites associated with its ballistic missile program.

While Tehran sought to downplay the assault, it shook the wider populace and came as a campaign of Israeli assassinations and attacks have decimated Iran's self-described “Axis of Resistance” — a series of armed groups allied with Tehran. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was also overthrown in December, further weakening Iran's grip on the wider region.

All the while, Iran has increasingly stockpiled more uranium enriched at near weapons-grade levels, something only done by atomic-armed nations. Tehran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb.

Iran's nuclear program has drawn warnings from both Israel and the US that it won't allow Tehran to obtain a bomb, signaling military action against the program could happen. But just last week, Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, seeking a new nuclear deal with Tehran. Iran says it hasn't received any letter, but still issued a flurry of pronouncements over it.

As a shaky ceasefire holds in Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yemen's Houthis have threatened to resume their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait that connect the two waterways.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi warned Friday that attacks against Israel-linked vessels off Yemen would resume within four days if aid didn't resume to Gaza. That deadline came and went Tuesday. Though no attacks were reported, that again put shippers on edge.

The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels in their campaign that has also killed four sailors.



Troops Kill 30 Militants Attempting to Sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan

Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025.  EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
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Troops Kill 30 Militants Attempting to Sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan

Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025.  EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER

Pakistani security forces killed 30 militants who attempted to enter the country from Afghanistan, the military said Friday.

It said the members of the Pakistani Taliban were spotted overnight in the North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the troops seized weapons, ammunition and explosives from the militants. The military's statement did not mention if there was a gunfight or other details of the operation.

The military alleged the militants were backed by India and asked the Afghan government to prevent the use of its territory by “foreign proxies” to attack Pakistan, The Associated Press reported.

There was no immediate comment from New Delhi. Pakistani authorities often accuse India of backing outlawed groups like the Baloch Liberation Army and Pakistani Taliban who commit violence in Pakistan. Such accusations have increased since a shooting in Indian-controlled Kashmir in April heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed nations.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for the successful operation.

Pakistani troops killed 54 insurgents in the same area in April.

Militant violence has surged in Pakistan in recent months, much of it blamed on the Pakistani Taliban. The group is separate from the Afghan Taliban but closely allied with them. Many of its leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.