US enters Caspian, Russia - Iran decide to conduct military exercises
The Russian and Iranian navies are preparing to hold joint exercises in the Caspian Sea - a decision made after the US officially entered the waters.
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Russian Navy exercises. |
In a statement to the media on January 6, Iranian Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said: "Tactical, rescue and anti-piracy exercises between the Iranian and Russian naval forces are being planned and will be carried out in the near future."
Iran and Russia have held several naval exercises in the Caspian Sea, including those in 2015 and 2017. However, this early 2019 exercise was not planned by both sides as previous ones.
The reason for this haste is said by the Iranian newspaper Mehr to be related to the US's official entry into the Caspian with Kazakhstan's consent. Specifically, the Kazakh Senate approved a bilateral protocol with the United States (June 2017), allowing the use of Kuryk and Aktau ports to transfer Pentagon goods to Afghanistan.
At the same time, the US-Kazakhstan military cooperation agreement for 2018-2021 has come into force. Accordingly, the armies of the two countries not only conduct joint exercises, but also create a NATO base in Mangyshlak. The presence of the US military in the Caspian Sea is essentially a direct threat to the security of the Russian Federation, as well as creating a new military threat to Iran from the North.
