Interfax-Military
May 23, 2014
Russian, Iranian defense ministers confer on bilateral cooperation, regional security
MOSCOW: Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu met with his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Hosein Dehqan on the sidelines of the Third Moscow International Security Conference on Friday.
“Your participation in this conference is a landmark event. The issues on the conference agenda are of paramount importance. Color revolutions have affected many of your neighbors,” the Russian minister told his Iranian colleague.
The Russian and Iranian presidents met in Shanghai two days ago, which “was a demonstration of a special relationship between our countries,” he said.
“I suggest we discuss the current condition of bilateral military cooperation, which is important for Russia, and regional security issues,” Shoigu told Dehqan.
The Iranian minister stressed the importance of the Moscow conference and said, “The political administrations of the two countries had laid down a foundation for interaction between our departments.”
“The U.S. policy is targeted against countries which pursue an independence course. It [the U.S.] aspires for a global influence, and Iran is staunchly opposed to that,” he said. “We can build our relations on this principle.”
The Iranian minister recalled the message he had sent to Shoigu and the Russian minister’s reply and said that the message invited Shoigu to visit Iran. “This is a clear message to the Americans,” he noted.
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Interfax-Military
May 23, 2014
Russia-China naval drill enters into active phase
MOSCOW: Battleships of Russia and China are practicing the release of a captured vessel and convoy operations in the active stage of the Naval Interaction 2014 exercises, the Russian Defense Ministry press service and information department told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
“Today the battleships of the Pacific Fleet and the Navy of the People’s Liberation Army practiced the liberation of a seized vessel and convoy operations in a designated area of the East China Sea,” a ministry spokesman said.
The Russian and Chinese navy servicemen will also practice detection, recognition and fire on seaborne targets and air defense.
The exercises involve twelve ships, including the missile cruiser Varyag, the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the torpedo boat Bystry, the large landing ship Admiral Nevelskoy, the sea tanker Ilim and the tugboat Kalar of Russia and the destroyers Zhengzhou, Ningbo and Harbin, the frigates Liuzhou and Yantai and the fleet replenishment ship Qiandaohu of China.
Meanwhile, the joint command of the exercises will set troop control tasks for the joint staff, which will practice the fulfillment of the seaborne operations protocol consistent with the joint command orders.
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