Iran, Russia hold joint naval exercise

Tehran, July 16 (IANS): Irani and Russian navy forces attended a joint exercise in the Caspian Sea, the media reported.

Citing Tasnim news agency, Xinhua reported on Saturday that the Russian fleet, including Russia's Makhachkala battleship from the country's Caspian Sea Marine Brigade, took part in the drills.

The fleet had berthed at Iran's northern port city of Anzali on Wednesday as part of programs intended to boost military cooperation between the two countries.

It was the fifth Russian naval flotilla visiting the Iranian Caspian port in the past decade as parts of their naval vessels making regular "friendly port calls."

Iran has also dispatched fleets to the Russian ports on similar missions.

In October 2016, a Russian naval flotilla arrived in Anzali in response to the dispatch of Iran's naval fleets to Astrakhan in southern Russia in September. The visits aimed to convey messages of peace and to help improve bilateral ties.

More fleets from Caspian littoral states would arrive in Iran's northern ports in the future, said Iran's Rear Admiral Afshin Rezaei Haddad.

He added that the navies of five Caspian littoral countries are cooperating to secure it as the sea for peace, mutual respect and good-neighborliness.

Iran has sent several fleets with the same mission from the country's northern and southern waters to the high seas.