Iran, Russia hold joint naval drills in Caspian Sea

The drills were held in the world’s largest enclosed inland body of water on Saturday, the last day of the Russian naval fleet’s presence in the Islamic Republic.
 
The Iranian Navy’s missile-launching Peykan-class warships also conducted exercises during the drills.
 
Russian Navy’s fifth fleet berthed at the northern Iranian port city of Anzali on Thursday for a three-day stay in line with efforts to boost naval cooperation among the Caspian Sea littoral states, Mehr News Agency reported.
 
It was the fifth Russian naval flotilla visiting the Iranian Caspian port city in the past decade.
 
Iran and Russia have formed a strong alliance in recent years, with their naval vessels making regular “friendly port calls.”
 
On March 7, a flotilla of Iranian warships left the country’s northern territorial waters for Russia in a bid to convey the Islamic Republic’s message of peace and friendship.
 
The naval fleet, comprised of the domestically-manufactured Damavand destroyer and a missile-launching frigate, dubbed Derafsh, set sail for Makhachkala, the capital city of the Republic of Dagestan, in Russia.
 
The flotilla is the fourth fleet dispatched by the Iranian Navy in its northern waters. The Navy has previously sent three fleets to Russia and one to Azerbaijan.