China, Russia and Iran send ships to South Africa ahead of naval drills

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Chinese, Russian and Iranian vessels have sailed into a South African port ahead of week-long naval exercises that follow a surge in tensions over US military operations in Venezuela and the Atlantic.

The South African National Defence Force in a statement said the planned exercises starting on Friday — dubbed Will for Peace 2026 — would involve “Brics Plus” nations. Beijing’s defence ministry said China and Russia would participate alongside South Africa.

Iran’s largest naval vessel, the Makran, a converted merchant ship previously called the Persian Gulf, was also this week observed sailing into False Bay, close to the naval port of Simon’s Town in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

Neither China nor South Africa named Iran as a participant in the drills, though two officials confirmed the vessel’s arrival.

South Africa drew strong criticism from Washington after it held joint naval exercises with Russia and China in February 2023 on the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Brics has since expanded to include Iran, as well as Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

The exercises come shortly after the US captured Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro — an important Chinese and Russian ally in South America — and seized a Russian oil tanker in the north Atlantic.

US President Donald Trump has also over the past week repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily in Iran if the country uses force to quell protests against the regime.

Tehran’s ship, the Makran, is deployed by the Iranian navy as a support vessel. It was designated by the US Treasury as a sanctions target after it was suspected of attempting to deliver fast attack boats to Venezuela, though it never completed its alleged mission.

South Africa’s National Defence Force described the naval exercises as “joint actions to ensure the safety of shipping and maritime economic activities”. They would take part in joint maritime safety operations and interoperability drills, it said.

The Democratic Alliance, the biggest coalition partner of the African National Congress in South Africa’s government, criticised the naval exercises, adding that Iran’s inclusion would be particularly concerning.

“It’s obviously very worrying. As the DA we see the value of Brics from an economic perspective,” said Ryan Smith, the party’s spokesperson on international affairs. “But it’s concerning that Brics seems to be shifting into an organisation that seeks to counter the west and is . . . moving from economic to a military organisation.”

Frans Cronje, a political analyst, said it would not be surprising for the South African government to include Iran in the exercises.

“The South African policy on Iran is pretty clear: they’re an ally and have been for some time,” Cronje said. “Relations between the countries are fraternal.”

Adam Habib, a South African academic and vice-chancellor of Soas in London, said he shared concerns about the optics of prospective joint manoeuvres with authoritarian Iran.

But he said the Trump administration — which has routinely lashed out at South Africa over the false claim that it is allowing a “genocide” against white people — had backed nonaligned countries into a corner.

In an evolving world order in which China was rising, South Africa was seeking to “maximise opportunities” for itself by “playing superpowers off against each other”, he said.

But it couldn’t play that card effectively because “Trump is not cutting you any slack. They demand that you are subservient, a vassal state” — a position that was not acceptable to the ANC elite, he said.

“Trump doesn’t respond to appeasement, he responds to a hardline attitude,” Habib said. While countries such as India could push back because of its size and nuclear capability, the only leverage that South Africa had was membership of Brics, he said.

The South African presidency did not respond immediately to a request for comment.