Iranian, Chinese, Russian Military Forces to Participate in Joint Wargames

China’s Defense Ministry made the annoucement, saying that troops from Armenia, Belarus, Myanmar, and Pakistan would also participate in the exercises.

It added that the exercises, to be held from September 21 to 26, would focus on defensive tactics, encirclement, and battlefield control and command.

The drills have special significance “at this important moment when the entire world is fighting the pandemic,” the ministry said.

Iran, China, and Russia have over the past years increased their military and diplomatic cooperation to counter the United States’ hostile policies and extra-territorial presence in their regions.

Late last year, the three countries held four days of naval exercises code-named the “Marine Security Belt” to promote regional security and peace and safeguard international trade in the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

The joint drill, which was the first of such cooperation with Iran since the 1979 victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution with two major world naval powers at this scale, was aimed at promoting the security of international trade in the strategic regions.