Iran navy commander invites Qatar to join maritime security drill this month

Iran’s navy commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi met and held talks with his Qatari counterpart Wednesday night in Doha, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Thursday.

Khanzadi invited the Qatari navy to participate in a joint maritime security exercise in the Indian Ocean later this month, Fars said.

He pointed out that Iran and Oman hold joint maritime exercises every year, saying: “One of the purposes of these exercises is to improve the coordination between the naval forces of the two countries and to exchange experiences.”

Qatar’s naval forces can make use of the “high-level training capacities” in Iran to improve, said Khanzadi.

Prior to visiting Doha, Khanzadi met with his Pakistani counterpart in Islamabad and invited Pakistan to participate in the maritime exercise scheduled for later this month.

China and Russia are also set to take part in the maritime exercise, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.