Navy units from Russia, China and Iran conduct military exercises in the Gulf of Oman. According to official information, the maneuvers are expected to last until December 30, however the naval forces and units participating in them were not specified.

According to a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the joint exercise - the first by the three nations together - "responds to normal military cooperation," while Brigadier General Aboldazl Shekarshi, a spokesman for the Iranian Army said that the main objective of the operation is  "bolster security of international maritime commerce," as well as training aimed at "combatting piracy and terrorism." 

Since the abandonment in 2018 of the US of the signed nuclear agreement (together with France, Great Britain, and Russia) with Iran, the tension, both diplomatic and military, in the Gulf of Oman has been growing and numerous incidents have been reported, such as unidentified attacks on several ships in international waters of the Gulf of Oman, or the retention of a British oil tanker by the Iranian navy.

The escalation of tension peaked in June of this year, when the Iranian army managed to bring down a sophisticated North American drone.