South Africa host naval exercises with Russia, China and Iran
By Staff Writer
South Africa risks further angering Donald Trump as it this week hosts naval exercises with Russia, China and Iran.
Warships from fellow members of the BRICS bloc have arrived off Cape Town for a week of maritime drills called Will for Peace 2026.
South Africa’s military has said the exercises will focus on cooperation and securing maritime trade routes, but has given little detail about what this will involve.
The event, which features several of Washington’s main global rivals or adversaries, risks further straining ties after a year in which Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised Pretoria.
It also comes as the Iranian regime has been convulsed by popular protest and accused of killing hundreds in a crackdown on dissent.
Mr Trump has cut aid and snubbed a G20 summit in Johannesburg in protest at the ruling African National Congress’s (ANC) foreign policy, including its decision to bring a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Washington has also accused South Africa of discriminating against its white population, which Pretoria strongly denies.
South Africa’s relations with China, Russia and particularly Iran have been another source of tension, though the government says it is seeking to remain neutral.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s second-largest political party, which is currently in a coalition with the ANC, has said hosting the exercises undermines any claims to be non-aligned.
Chris Hattingh, the DA’s defence spokesman, said: “BRICS is not a military alliance. It has no defence role, no joint command, no shared military plan and no agreement to conduct military exercises together.
“Calling these drills ‘BRICS cooperation’ is a political trick to soften what is really happening. The government is choosing closer military ties with rogue and sanctioned states such as Russia and Iran.
“That is not multilateralism. It is selective alignment.”
Previous naval manoeuvres were held with Russia and China in 2019 and 2023, but this year marks the first inclusion of Iran since it joined BRICS last year.
Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, commander of the Iranian navy, said late last month that the country’s 103rd flotilla would take part in the exercises.
The IRIS Makran, an Iranian tanker converted into a naval logistics hub and command centre, has this week anchored near Simon’s Town, close to Cape Town.
Another two Iranian ships — the destroyer Jamaran and the naval vessel Mahdavi are also taking part.
The Mahdavi belongs to the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC is a sanctioned and highly politicised military organisation that plays a central role in Iran’s regional proxy wars, missile and drone programmes, and destabilisation across several regions.
A Chinese destroyer, the Tangshan, is also in place, accompanied by a support ship, while a Russian frigate, the Stoikiy, and a supply vessel arrived via Namibia.
Pretoria has in recent days been trying to avert Washington’s ire by persuading the Iranians to scale back their role and participate only as observers, according to News24, a South African outlet.
The exercise had originally been scheduled for November 2025 but was postponed to avoid clashing with the G20 summit in Pretoria.
Defence analysts say that while South Africa’s navy, which comprises four frigates and three submarines, remains one of the most capable in sub-Saharan Africa, it is in a poor state after years of underfunding, poor maintenance and recruitment shortfalls.
