Warships and aircraft from the US, France, Belgium and Japan are taking part in joint exercises in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman.
This year’s war games, known as Group Arabian Sea Warfare Exercise, or Gaswex, aim to enhance mutual capabilities in maritime security, the US Navy said.
Participants include ships and aircraft from the French Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group, auxiliary ship FS Var, frigates FS Provence and FS Chevalier Paul, Belgian frigate HNLMS Leopold I and Japanese destroyer JS Ariake.
US forces include the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group with 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal and aircraft including F-35, P-8, MH-60, Air Force F-16s, E-3 and tankers.
“By co-operatively training together, exercises like this allow participating naval forces to effectively develop the necessary skills to address threats to regional security, freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce,” the US Navy said.
It is one of many exercises in which the US military participates with partner nations in the US Central Command area of responsibility each year.
Iran abandoned all limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after former president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the accord in 2018.
President Joe Biden has expressed a desire to return to the deal if Iran honours the accord’s limits on the Iranian nuclear programme. But tension remains high because militias in Iraq, probably backed by Tehran, continue to take aim at US interests.
Last month, Mr Biden launched an air strike on Syria in retaliation.
There was no immediate reaction from Iran to the naval drill.
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
On racial profiling at airports
Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
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Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Models: Meti and Clinton at MMG
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