Rogue states Russia, Iran and China joined naval drills alongside South Africa Saturday, as tensions mount between several countries in the block of nations and the US.
The week‑long exercise, which began Friday off the Cape Town coast and is being led by China, comes just days after the US seized a Russian‑flagged oil tanker north of Europe in the Atlantic Ocean.
China, Russia and South Africa are longtime members of BRICS — the 10-country economic alliance formed in 2009 that sees itself as a counterforce to US dominance — while Iran joined in 2024.
President Trump has accused the BRICS nations of pursuing “anti-American” policies — and last year threatened them with an extra 10% tariff.
The drill is being questioned by observers, who are skeptical over why a supposed economic alliance needed to carry out a miliary exercise.
The alliance was also slammed by South Africa’s main opposition party, which said it “contradicts our stated neutrality” and endangers the country’s position on the global stage.
“Calling these drills ‘BRICS cooperation’ is a political trick to soften what is really happening,” stated the Democratic Alliance, the second largest party in South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s coalition.
“Government is choosing closer military ties with rogue and sanctioned states such as Russia and Iran,” it said, adding the relationship is making South Africa “a pawn in the power games being waged” by these countries.
South African officials, however, defended the so-called “Will for Peace 2026” as essential.
“It is a demonstration of our collective resolve to work together,” Capt. Nndwakhulu Thomas Thamaha, South Africa’s joint task force commander, said at the opening ceremony.
“In an increasingly complex maritime environment, cooperation such as this is not an option, it is essential.”
Russia, China and South Africa first conducted joint naval drills in 2019, but this year’s exercise comes at a time of heightened tensions between the Trump administration and several BRICS nations.
South Africa has found itself in a precarious position with the White House — facing pressure over its ties to Russia, Iran and China, while it seeks to preserve trade access with the US, one of its main trading partners.
The country is reportedly trying to persuade Iran to be an observer rather than an active participant in the drill, over fears of how the exercise might be viewed by Trump, the country’s News24 Agency is reporting.
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