China, Russia and Iran are conducting joint naval drills beginning Friday in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman amid heightened tensions in the region after the Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from a landmark nuclear pact with Tehran.

The military exercises, scheduled to continue through Monday, are intended to “deepen exchange and cooperation between the navies of the three countries,” a Chinese defense ministry spokesman said Thursday.

He went on to say that the exercise was a “normal military exchange” between the three countries and was not “connected to the regional situation.”

The Gulf of Oman connects the Arabian Sea with the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes, and the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. accused Iran of attacking oil tankers in the waterway in May and June in an attempt to disrupt global shipping channels.

Iran threatened in June to close the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off the transport of an estimated 20% of the world's oil as the United States warned that Iran risked prompting a military response. AFP/Getty Images

Iran was also blamed for an attack in September on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia. Iran has denied those allegations.

The U.S. ramped up its military presence in the Middle East and sent missile defense systems to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the attacks.

Tehran is participating in the joint operation because it would “stabilize security” in the region and bolster the fight against “terrorism and piracy,” said Aboldazl Shekarchi, a brigadier general and spokesman for Iran’s armed forces.

The U.S. reimposed economic sanctions against Iran in 2018 when President Trump withdrew from a nuclear pact the Obama administration had brokered with Tehran and other world powers in 2015.

See:Europe remains committed to the Iran nuclear deal even after Trump quits

An expanded version of this report appears at NYPost.com.