Union of Salvation: Russia and Iran conduct naval exercises in the Caspian Sea

Maritime rescue exercises will be held in Iran's territorial waters in the Caspian Sea. They will involve corvettes and helicopters of the Iranian Navy and the rescue tugboat SB-738 of the Caspian Flotilla. Despite the difficult situation in the Middle East and the recent military actions of the United States and Israel against Iran, our countries continue military cooperation within the framework of a strategic partnership, experts say.

The purpose of the joint exercises of Iran and Russia

The crew of the rescue tugboat SB-738 of the Caspian Flotilla will take part in an international search and rescue exercise in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The maneuvers, which will take place from July 14 to 18, will also involve corvettes and helicopters of the Iranian Navy.

During the exercises, the sailors of Russia and Iran will work out actions to assist a ship that has been conditionally damaged, to search and rescue the crew in the water, tow an emergency vessel and organize the fight for the survivability of the ship. The exercises are being conducted in order to increase the readiness of the forces of the Caspian Flotilla and the Iranian Navy for possible incidents at sea, the military department noted.

These exercises were agreed upon a long time ago. Russia and Iran have decided to continue implementing pre-approved plans, military expert Yuri Lyamin believes.

— The situation in the Middle East in general and around Iran in particular remains tense, and the ceasefire regime is still in effect. At the same time, the Iranian fleet did not suffer any significant losses during the war, so nothing prevents the exercises," he told Izvestia.

According to him, this scenario of exercises, that is, the development of joint search and rescue operations, is quite standard for exercises in the Caspian Sea.

Strategic partners

Iran is one of the leading naval powers in the Caspian Sea and our ally, military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia.

— And these are normal relations between the two countries that are members of the BRICS and between which a strategic partnership agreement has been concluded. Russia has good relations in this region with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, but our ships are in constant close contact with Iran — they exchange friendly visits and conduct joint exercises. Moreover, now the base of the Caspian Flotilla has become much closer to Iran — it used to be in Astrakhan, and now in Makhachkala," he noted.

— Besides, we currently have difficult relations with Azerbaijan. But once upon a time the Caspian Flotilla was based in Baku, where I had the honor to serve," recalled Vasily Dandykin. — Rescue operations will be carried out at these exercises, but other ships may be involved if necessary. The Caspian Flotilla has many modern ones, including caliber carriers.

The main task, since this is an international exercise, is the joint development of rescue operations by different states, Captain 1st Rank Andrey Kachan, ex—chief of the Baltic Fleet Auxiliary Fleet, told Izvestia.

"This is necessary so that sailors from different countries have an understanding of the commands and the order of interaction,— he said. — These exercises will practice the rescue of ships, vessels, people and aircraft in distress on the water. First, the sailors will start searching for objects at sea in various ways. Then they will conduct a reconnaissance — to establish the nature of the damage or accident — for this an emergency rescue group is landed. Then, according to the report of the commander, the rescue of the facility will be carried out — either extinguishing the fire or pumping out the water.

The rescue tug of the new project is also capable of supplying electricity to the emergency ship if there is a power outage, the expert noted. Among other things, there is a diving group on it that can inspect the bottom of the emergency facility and repair the leak. It has its own outpatient clinic and a doctor who can provide assistance. If necessary, the tugboat will be able to tow the emergency facility by sea to the desired location.

The exercises of Russia and Iran in the Caspian Sea are held annually. Last year, the Russian tugboat SB-45 took part in large-scale naval rescue maneuvers at sea. At that time, they were also conducted in order to increase preparedness for possible incidents at sea. According to the representative of the Iranian Navy, Abbas Hassan, representatives of other countries of the Caspian Sea, including Azerbaijan, acted as observers at that time.

In March of the same year, the Maritime Security Belt 2025 exercise was held with the participation of the Navies of Russia, China and Iran in the Gulf of Oman. During the exercises, the joint forces searched for the vessel captured by conditional terrorists, as well as worked out a joint operation of special units to free it. For two days, the crews of the ships conducted day and night firing from heavy machine guns and small arms at targets simulating unmanned boats and unmanned aerial vehicles of a simulated enemy. Russia used the corvettes Sharp and Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov, as well as the medium sea tanker Pechenga of the Pacific Fleet in these maneuvers.