Marine Security Belt, also known with the portmanteau CHIRU, is a trilateral naval exercise involving

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

as partners. First held in 2019, it is set to be taken place annually.

History

2019–20

The first edition of the exercise began on 27 December 2019 and took four days. The area of operation was the northern part of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. The units participating in the exercise included: * Iran ** '' Alborz'' (frigate) ** '' Sahand'' (frigate) ** '' Bayandor'' (corvette) ** '' Tondar'' (hovercraft) ** '' Shahid Naserinejad'' (auxiliary ship) ** '' Shahid Nazeri'' (HARTH) * China ** ''

Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and wa ...

'' (destroyer) * Russia ** ''

Yaroslav Mudry Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was als ...

'' (frigate) ** ''Elnya'' (tanker) ** ''Viktor Konetsky'' (tugboat)

2021

China was absent in the second version of the exercise when it was started by Russia and Iran on 16 February 2021. It was later announced that the Indian and Chinese navies will also join, but neither eventually take part. On 18 February 2021, the official website of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

issued a statement denying participation in the drill. Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the Indian Navy had cancelled the plan at the last minute, because Tehran said China could join the exercise too and Indians did not want to be together with the Chinese due to recent border skirmishes. The units participating in the exercise included: * Iran ** ''

Jamaran Jamaran( fa, جماران) is a neighbourhood located north of the city of Tehran in Iran. Jamaran was once an independent village; it is now a part of the North Tehran region. It is best known for being the home of Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini' ...

'' (frigate) ** '' Naghdi'' (corvette) ** '' Falakhon'' (fast attack craft) ** '' Shahid Nazeri'' (HARTH) * Russia ** '' Stoikiy'' (corvette) ** ''

Kola KOLA (99.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Redlands, California, and broadcasting to the Riverside-San Bernardino-Inland Empire radio market. It is owned by the Anaheim Broadcasting Corporation and it airs a classic hits radio form ...

'' (replenishment ship) ** ''Yakov Grebelsky'' (tugboat)

2022

The third version of the exercise was held in late January 2022 over an area of 17,000 square kilometres (6,560 square miles) in the northern

. It included a range of tactical exercises like putting out fires on burning vessels, releasing a hijacked vessel, and shooting at air targets at night. The units participating in the exercise included: * Iran ** '' Dena'' (frigate) ** ''

'' (frigate) ** '' Naghdi'' (corvette) ** ''

Tabarzin The tabar (also called ''tabarzin'', which means "saddle axe" n persian Modern Turkish: ''teber'') is a type of battle axe. The term ''tabar'' is used for axes originating from the Ottoman Empire, Persia, India and surrounding countries and cultur ...

'' (fast attack craft) ** '' Zereh'' (fast attack craft) ** '' Bahregan'' (auxiliary ship) ** '' Ganaveh'' (auxiliary ship) ** '' Shahid Nazeri'' (HARTH) * China ** ''

Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...

'' (destroyer) * Russia ** '' Varyag'' (cruiser) ** '' Admiral Tributs'' (destroyer) ** '' Boris Butoma'' (replenishment ship)

References

{{Iran–Russia relations Naval exercises Military exercises involving Iran Military exercises involving Russia Military exercises involving China Iran–Russia military relations China–Iran military relations China–Russia military relations