Iran, Saudi Arabia hold joint naval exercise in Sea of Oman

Saudi Arabia has held military exercises with Iran and other countries recently in the Sea of Oman, the Saudi defense ministry spokesman said in a statement.

The two Middle East rivals, which have long backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the region, severed diplomatic ties in 2016.

The Royal Saudi Naval Forces had recently concluded a joint naval exercise with the Iranian Naval Forces alongside other countries in the Sea of Oman,” Brigadier General Turki al-Malki stated.

The war games came after ISNA, the official Iranian news agency, said that the two former foes were planning joint military drills in the Red Sea.

Iranian state media reported that Iran was part of a military drill in the northern Indian Ocean alongside Russia and Oman, as well as six observer countries including Saudi Arabia.

Since November, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have waged a campaign of attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in what they say is a show of solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

The Houthis have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, months after they seized the capital Sanaa and most of Yemen’s population centers, forcing the internationally recognized government south, to Aden.

Saudi Arabia, which has backed the Aden government, has engaged in a delicate balancing act as the world’s biggest oil exporter tries to extricate itself from the war on its doorstep.

Saudi Arabia has also long mulled normalisation with Iran’s arch-foe, Israel, in return for security guarantees from the United States.