TEHRAN: Iran and Russia conducted joint naval drills in the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean as tensions with the United States escalate, with President Donald Trump setting a 10-to-15-day deadline for Tehran to agree on a nuclear deal or face “bad things” if no agreement is reached.
Russian sailors conducted the drills with Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean with the goal of “upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences,” according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
Iranian Navy Rear Adm. Hassan Maghsoodloo told the London-based news outlet Iran International that the drills were intended to promote security and sustainable maritime interaction, according to the US media outlet ‘The Hill’.
The drill exercises follow Iran’s launch of five missiles toward the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday that struck targets as part of other large-scale maritime exercises, the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency reported.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval drills are dubbed “Smart Control of Hormuz Strait.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier that day sent a stark warning to the U.S., which has amassed its naval presence off Iran’s coast.
The U.S. sent the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the Middle East after it was deployed to Venezuela’s coast before the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“The Americans constantly say that they’ve sent a warship toward Iran,” Khamenei wrote on the social platform X. “Of course, a warship is a dangerous piece of military hardware. However, more dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea.”
Trump said it is “not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran,” adding Thursday that “otherwise, bad things happen.” He praised his 10-day timeline as “enough time” for the two countries to come to a deal.
U.S. and Iranian officials met for a second round of talks in Geneva on Tuesday.
U.S. representatives are pushing for a new deal with the country after the first Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Obama-era deal that limited Iran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for sanctions relief.
Trump had threatened Iran as its military forces cracked down on widespread anti-government violent protests.
He had expressed strong concern over Iran’s response to widespread anti‑government protests, emphasizing the importance of protecting civilian lives. Earlier this month, he said Khamenei should be “very worried” about the U.S.
“They tried to go back to the site,” Trump told NBC News, claiming Iran attempted to restart its nuclear program. “They weren’t even able to get near it.
Trump said there was total obliteration. But they were thinking about starting a new site in a different part of the country. We found out about it. I said, ‘You do that, we’re going to do very bad things to you.’”
