Russian soldiers taking part in a drill simulating taking over a hijacked ship, during joint naval drills

The drills, involving naval vessels from Iran, Russia, China and other nations, will be focused on shipping security and combating piracy

MOSCOW: Russia, Iran and China will hold joint maritime exercises in the Persian Gulf around late 2021 or early 2022, Russia's ambassador to Tehran said, the RIA news agency reported on Monday.

The RIA news agency reported that the Marine Security Belt drills - also known as CHIRU - are intended to be an annual event. The drills were first held in 2019 and again in February 2021.

The drills, involving naval vessels from Iran, Russia, China and other nations, will be focused on shipping security and combating piracy, Jagaryan said.

"In the end of this year or the beginning of the next year, the annual joint naval exercises CHIRU will be held in the Persian Gulf region. Russian, Iranian and Chinese warships are taking part in it,” Levan Dzhagaryan said in an interview with Sputnik.

The drills involving naval vessels from the three countries will be focused on shipping security and combating piracy, the envoy was cited as saying.

In his another interview with RIA, the Russian envoy also spoke about Iran’s "warming relationship” with its Arab neighbours, as well as Tehran’s desire to become a regional production and export hub for Covid-19 vaccines including Russia’s Sputnik V.