Iran has three warships waiting in False Bay, but they will not join South Africa, China, Russia and the UAE in the naval exercise Will for Peace.
Iran has withdrawn from the joint naval exercise about to start in False Bay. The Iranian Navy sent three warships to False Bay last week, but it is understood that they will not participate in the naval drills.
Sources have confirmed that a decision has been made for the Iranian ships not to join the South African, Russian, Chinese and Emirati warships when they sail out to sea this week to conduct joint operations as part of the exercise Will for Peace 2026. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has billed it as a joint exercise of the BRICS+ forum of 10 countries.
However, most of the 10 nations are not participating, or if they are, are doing so only in part. Last week, two Chinese, two Russian, three Iranian and one Emirati warship arrived in False Bay. So far, the participating countries have only held a parade on shore and conducted planning.
They were scheduled to set sail on Monday or Tuesday for the exercise at sea, which will include live firing as well as the coordination of other maritime operations.
There have been reports that Pretoria urged Iran to withdraw from the exercise to avoid antagonising...
