China, Iran, and Russia continued their joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman, marking the fifth year of the trilateral drills.
The exercises, codenamed “Maritime Security Belt 2025,” took place near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which a fifth of the world’s traded crude oil passes.
The region has seen heightened tensions in recent years, with Iran seizing commercial vessels and carrying out suspected attacks following the United States’ withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal under then-President Donald Trump.