{"id":685185,"date":"2026-01-09T20:05:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/685185\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T20:05:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:05:15","slug":"chinese-russian-and-iranian-warships-arrive-for-drills-in-south-africa-military-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/685185\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese, Russian and Iranian warships arrive for drills in South Africa | Military News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Naval exercises come as tensions run high after US military intervention in Venezuela, seizures of several oil tankers.<\/p>\n

Published On 9 Jan 20269 Jan 2026<\/p>\n

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Chinese, Russian and Iranian warships have arrived in South African waters for a week of naval drills as geopolitical tensions run high over the United States\u2019s military intervention in Venezuela and its seizures of several oil tankers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s defence ministry said in a statement on Friday that the exercises, set to kick off with an opening ceremony on Saturday, are\u00a0\u201cjoint operations to safeguard vital shipping lanes and economic activities\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Strikes on maritime targets and \u201ccounter-terrorism\u201d rescues will be part of the drills, it said.<\/p>\n

Chinese, Russian and Iranian ships were seen moving into and out of the harbour that serves South Africa\u2019s top naval base in Simon\u2019s Town, south of Cape Town, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear if other countries from the BRICS group<\/a> \u2013 which also includes Brazil, India and the United Arab Emirates, among others \u2013 would take part in the drills.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the South African armed forces said he wasn\u2019t yet able to confirm all the countries participating in the drills, which are due to run until next Friday.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s defence force said the event will allow the navies \u201cto exchange best practices and improve joint operational capabilities, which contributes to the safety of shipping routes and overall regional maritime stability\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AA Russian vessel arrives at the Simon\u2019s Town naval base ahead of the drills, in Cape Town, South Africa, on January 9, 2026 [Esa Alexander\/Reuters]<\/p>\n

The exercises come amid heightened tensions after the US military attacked the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on Saturday and abducted the country\u2019s president, Nicolas Maduro.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has also been seizing Venezuela-linked oil tankers in international waters, including a Russian-flagged vessel<\/a> in the North Atlantic that Washington said had violated US sanctions.<\/p>\n

The seizure drew rebuke from Moscow, with the Russian authorities describing the incident as a violation of international maritime law.<\/p>\n

But Trump dismissed international law<\/a> in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday, saying only his \u201cown morality\u201d can curb his administration\u2019s aggressive policies.<\/p>\n

Washington has also threatened to take action against Tehran over the Iranian authorities\u2019 recent crackdown on mass demonstrations in the country.<\/p>\n

The joint BRICS naval drills are expected to further strain ties between the US and South Africa, which has been especially targeted for criticism<\/a> by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

The exercises were initially scheduled for November of last year but were postponed due to a scheduling clash with the G20 summit in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Chinese guided missile destroyer Tangshan, left, and the Russian corvette Stoikiy, right, in the Simon\u2019s Town harbour, on January 9, 2026 [Nardus Engelbrecht\/AP Photo]<\/p>\n

Asked about the timing of the event, South Africa\u2019s Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa said it was planned long before these tensions we are witnessing today\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us not press panic buttons because the USA has got a problem with countries,\u201d Holomisa said. \u201cThose are not our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s willingness to host Russian and Iranian warships has also been criticised inside the country, with the Democratic Alliance \u2013 the second largest political party in the coalition government \u2013 saying it was opposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalling these drills \u2018BRICS cooperation\u2019 is a political trick to soften what is really happening: Government is choosing closer military ties with rogue and sanctioned states such as Russia and Iran,\u201d the party said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Naval exercises come as tensions run high after US military intervention in Venezuela, seizures of several oil tankers.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2740,11410,1395,299,774,839,2597,12,285,332,2196,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-685185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-asia-pacific","10":"tag-china","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-middle-east","14":"tag-military","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-russia","18":"tag-south-africa","19":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115866941863831172","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}