Link: China, Russia and Iran hold joint naval drills in Gulf of Oman
China, Russia, and Iran are staging joint naval drills in the Gulf of Oman, which is increasing tensions with the US. However, the US claims that they are not worried about the drills, as China and Russia have trained together before, yet they will continue to monitor the involved nations and possible security threats. Overall relations between the US and Saudi Arabia have also frayed after decades of cooperation, and this is similar to US relations with Iran, which have been in disarray since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979. However, recent talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran hosted by China have resulted in an agreement of peace that will end a long period of hostility between the nations.
Although military drills involving militaries from various nations is not a novel concept and therefore the drills held by China, Russia, and Iran are not unprecedented or enormously concerning, these practices do reflect a shift in power and standings on the global stage. The US recently withdrew forces from the Middle East, so it is quite interesting to see the flurry of activity surrounding the region from foreign powers following this shift. For example, these military drills would probably not have been scheduled for the Gulf of Oman, a strategic area of the Middle East, if the US had maintained a presence there. The drills in this particular gulf may also point to foreign interest there on the part of China, India, and Russia, as well as a shift in regional power in the region.
One big overarching theme in International Relations is reciprocity, and how that plays out in different theories. In this situation, reciprocity is one of the factors that could be contributing to the cooperation between China, Russia, Iran, and even Saudi Arabia. All of these nations have similar goals of gaining power over the West and ousting US influence, and they each have different things they can bring to the table in a symbiotic relationship. In addition, foreign interest plays a big role in this situation as it is in the interest of the involved nations to carry out military drills together.