{"id":128745,"date":"2026-01-16T06:03:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/us-slams-south-africa-for-hosting-naval-drills-with-iran\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T06:03:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:03:50","slug":"us-slams-south-africa-for-hosting-naval-drills-with-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/us-slams-south-africa-for-hosting-naval-drills-with-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"US slams South Africa for hosting naval drills with Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 16 \u2014 The United States has protested South Africa\u2019s decision to take part in a multinational naval exercise involving Iran, describing Tehran as a \u201cdestabilizing actor and state sponsor of terror\u201d and warning that its participation undermines regional and maritime security.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement, the US Embassy in South Africa said Washington viewed with \u201cconcern and alarm\u201d reports that South Africa\u2019s Minister of Defence and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) proceeded with Iran\u2019s involvement in the ongoing drills despite an alleged government directive to the contrary.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran is a destabilizing actor and state sponsor of terror, and its inclusion in joint exercises \u2014 in any capacity \u2014 undermines maritime security and regional stability,\u201d the embassy said.<\/p>\n

The statement added that it was \u201cparticularly unconscionable\u201d for South Africa to welcome Iranian security forces at a time when, according to Washington, Iranian authorities were \u201cshooting, jailing, and torturing Iranian citizens engaging in peaceful political activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The embassy further criticised Pretoria\u2019s foreign policy posture, saying South Africa \u201ccan\u2019t lecture the world on \u2018justice\u2019 while cozying up to Iran,\u201d and argued that allowing Iranian military forces to operate in South African waters \u2014 or expressing solidarity with Tehran \u2014 goes beyond non-alignment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s choosing to stand with a regime that brutally represses its people and engages in terrorism,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Will for Peace 2026\u2019<\/h2>\n

The diplomatic protest comes as South Africa hosts Exercise WILL FOR PEACE 2026, a multinational maritime drill involving navies from China, Russia, Iran and South Africa, with China serving as the lead nation.<\/p>\n

The exercise officially began on January 10, 2026, with an opening parade in Simon\u2019s Town, marking the start of joint activities conducted in South Africa\u2019s training areas and territorial waters.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s military has described the exercise as bringing together navies from BRICS Plus countries for joint maritime safety operations and interoperability drills.<\/p>\n

The commander of the Chinese task group said the exercise reflected months of planning and collaboration among participating navies, while the Joint Task Force Commander, Capt. Ndwakhulu Thamaha, said WILL FOR PEACE 2026 was more than a military activity, demonstrating a shared commitment to maritime safety and secure shipping.<\/p>\n

SANDF said it seeks to reinforce cooperative maritime engagement, build mutual trust among participating forces, and support efforts to maintain secure sea lines of communication.<\/p>\n

While South Africa has routinely conducted naval exercises with China and Russia in recent years, Iran\u2019s participation has drawn heightened scrutiny amid rising tensions between US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration and several BRICS Plus countries, including China, Iran, South Africa and Brazil. <\/p>\n

The expanded BRICS grouping also includes Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

South Africa has not publicly responded in detail to the US criticism, but officials have previously maintained that such exercises are consistent with the country\u2019s non-aligned foreign policy and its commitment to multilateral cooperation.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 16 \u2014 The United States has protested South Africa\u2019s decision to take part in a multinational naval exercise involving Iran, describing Tehran as a \u201cdestabilizing actor and state sponsor of terror\u201d and warning that its participation undermines regional and maritime security. In a statement, the US Embassy in South Africa said Washington […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}