Iran, China and Russia began joint naval drills on Friday in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman, in what Moscow said was an unprecedented exercise in naval cooperation and training.
Waters around Iran have become a focus for international tensions, with the United States exerting pressure for Iranian crude oil sales and other trade ties to be cut off.
"The message of this exercise is peace, friendship and lasting security through cooperation and unity... and its result will be to show that Iran cannot be isolated," Iranian flotilla admiral Gholamreza Tahani said on state television.