The navies of Iran and Russia were set to hold a joint exercise on Thursday in the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean. The drill came as the United States has significantly stepped up its military presence in the region, deployed a second aircraft carrier, and, according to some US officials, is preparing for a possible confrontation with Iran if negotiations\u2014whose second round was held on Tuesday\u2014collapse. A few days earlier, the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps had also conducted drills in the Strait of Hormuz. Ebrahim Pourvahedi, a security studies expert, told Iran Daily that Russia\u2019s presence alongside Iran in the exercise could be interpreted not only as defensive convergence but also as evidence of Iran\u2019s transnational deterrence and its evolution into a deterrence network against the expansionism of NATO and the United States.<\/p>\n
Tehran – IranView24<\/strong><\/p>\n IRAN DAILY: With Russia\u2019s participation in this joint exercise, what strategic messages does the move send to the United States and its regional allies? Can it be seen as a sign of emerging defense convergence between Tehran and Moscow and part of efforts to strengthen active deterrence against US pressure? The experience of US engagement with other international actors has shown that Washington only backs down when confronted with \u201chard power\u201d and \u201cbalanced coalitions.\u201d Therefore, Russia\u2019s presence alongside Iran can be interpreted not only as defense convergence but also as a sign of Iran\u2019s transnational \u201cdeterrence\u201d and its transformation into a deterrence network against NATO and US expansionism. The exercise signals to the American side that the cost of any miscalculation in the region would mean confrontation with a united front of Eastern powers, not Iran alone. The clear message is that Iran has shifted from being an easy military target to becoming a hub of regional defense convergence against the West\u2019s destabilizing adventurism. Given other recent drills by the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz, what impact will these moves have on US security calculations and those of regional actors? This exercise comes shortly after the second round of Iran-US talks in Geneva. Does this timing point to a form of synergy between diplomacy and hard power in Iran\u2019s approach? The navies of Iran and Russia were set to hold a joint exercise on Thursday in the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean. The drill came as the United States has significantly stepped up its military presence in the region, deployed a second aircraft carrier, and, according to some US officials, is preparing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":4351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,70,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis-and-notes","category-conversation","category-important-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4348"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4350,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348\/revisions\/4350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPOURVAHEDI: Holding a joint exercise between Iran and Russia stands as a clear symbol of the end of the project of Iran\u2019s \u201cpolitical isolation,\u201d a goal for which the US foreign policy establishment has invested heavily for years. The strategic message to Washington is that the era of a \u201chierarchy of power,\u201d in which the United States unilaterally decided on the security of international waters, has come to an end.<\/p>\n
\nShould Moscow\u2019s participation in this exercise be assessed within the framework of routine cooperation, or does it carry broader strategic dimensions under current conditions, particularly in light of regional geopolitical developments and the war in Ukraine?
\nViewing this exercise as a routine event would amount to ignoring the realities of the international arena. Today, the international community is witnessing the formation of a global \u201cresistance front\u201d against US hegemony, with the Ukraine war and tensions in West Asia representing two fronts of the same confrontation. Cooperation between Tehran and Moscow at this juncture is entirely strategic, as both countries are under the most severe unlawful pressure from Washington. Russia has come to understand that its security vis-\u00e0-vis NATO is intertwined with Iran\u2019s security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Accordingly, the drill carries a message beyond military cooperation and stands as a symbol of the political will of the two powers to reshape the unipolar order and challenge US maritime dominance in international waters.<\/p>\n
\nUS decision-makers are highly pragmatic and clearly understand the language of \u201ccost-benefit.\u201d When asymmetric drills by the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz\u2014which target the vulnerabilities of America\u2019s classical fleet\u2014are combined with oceanic maneuvers by Iran and Russia, commanders at United States Central Command realize that their aircraft carriers in the region are not instruments of power but rather \u201clarge and vulnerable targets.\u201d This situation makes the \u201csecurity dilemma\u201d unsolvable for the United States. For regional countries, the message is equally clear: Washington is unable to safeguard even its own hegemony, let alone guarantee the security of its partners. As a result, this display of battlefield leverage will push US regional allies to rethink their calculations and steer clear of destabilizing policies. Ultimately, the outcome of Iran-Russia military convergence offers a tangible model of regional collective security that could, in the future, draw in new members from among regional states.<\/p>\n
\nThis is certainly the case. Historical experience and behavioral studies of the United States show that Washington grants no concessions at the negotiating table unless compelled to do so on the \u201cground.\u201d Holding this exercise alongside the Geneva talks constitutes precisely the leverage Iran\u2019s diplomats require. The move reminds the US team that its \u201coptions on the table,\u201d particularly military threats, have lost their edge, and that Iran is negotiating from a position of strength, relying on indigenous capabilities. In fact, the exercise provides a concrete backing for diplomacy, ensuring that the other side understands that if the diplomatic path is blocked, it will face a powerful Iran at sea and on land that does not fear confrontation. It appears that Iran\u2019s preemptive initiatives in the maritime domain will, in the future, catch the United States off guard with many surprises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"