During a visit to Mehr News Agency on Wednesday, Iran’s Navy commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi answered a question posed by the MNA English Desk on Iran’s joint wargame with naval forces of China and Russia in the country’s southern waters in the vicinity of the northern Indian Ocean.

Asked about the message of the wargame for the regional and trans-regional powers regarding the balance of power in this highly strategic region, the Navy commander said “when we talk about joint wargames, we are talking about two or more countries with a high level of relations in various political, economic and social fields, which culminate in cooperation in the military sector, with wargames usually being the highest level of such cooperation."

"A joint wargame between several countries, whether on land, at sea or in the air, indicates a remarkable expansion of cooperation among them," he noted.

He went on to add, “the joint wargame between Iran, Russia, and China, which will hopefully be conducted next month, carries the same message to the world, that these three countries have reached a meaningful strategic point in their relations, with regard to their shared and non-shared interests, and by non-shared I mean the respect we have for one another’s national interests.”

“The wargame seeks to deliver this message to the world that any kind of security at sea must include the interests of all concerned countries. We do not condone the kind of security that only caters to the benefits of one specific country at a specific time and which disregards the security of others.”

“Seas, which are used as a platform for conducting global commerce, cannot be exclusively beneficial to certain powers,” he stressed.

“It is no longer viable for a country to resort to force and bullying tactics to sanction another country’s oil by restricting its passage through international waters,” said Rear Admiral Khanzadi, adding “They need to realize that those countries with common interests have close military cooperation with one another in a bid to achieve a desirable level in their collective security.”

Interview by Payman Yazdani

MNA