MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. Iran, Russia and China plan to hold a joint naval exercise this autumn, the Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces’ General Staff, Mohammad Bagheri, told a news conference at a parade of the Iranian Armed Forces on Thursday.

"Exercises involving the navies of Iran, Russia and China will be held in the northern part of the Indian Ocean this autumn," the Mehr news agency quotes Bagheri as saying. "Pakistan, Oman and a number of other countries will probably also take part in these activities."

Last time the three countries’ military personnel teamed up for joint drills was within the framework of Vostok-2022 exercise, which Russia held on September 1-7. Military personnel from China, India, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Algeria and other states took part. The active phase of the war games was monitored by high-level military delegations from Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Venezuela, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. Defensive and offensive operations were practiced at the training grounds of the Eastern military region, as well as the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan.