South Africa hosts China–Russia–Iran naval drills under BRICS Plus banner

China, Russia and Iran launched a week-long series of joint naval drills in South African waters on January 10, an operation the host country described as a BRICS Plus initiative aimed at “ensur[ing] the safety of shipping and maritime economic activities.”

BRICS Plus represents the expanded format of the geopolitical grouping originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The enlarged grouping — which members view as a counterweight to U.S. and broader Western economic influence — has since been extended to include six additional countries.

While South Africa regularly conducts naval exercises with China and Russia, the timing of the drills coincides with heightened tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and several BRICS Plus states, among them China, Iran, South Africa and Brazil.

The expanded BRICS membership now incorporates Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.

According to Chinese military officials who presided over the opening ceremony, Brazil, Egypt and Ethiopia attended as observers.

“Exercise WILL FOR PEACE 2026 brings together navies from BRICS Plus countries for … joint maritime safety operations (and) interoperability drills,” South Africa’s military said in a statement.

Lieutenant Colonel Mpho Mathebula, acting spokesperson for joint operations, told Reuters that all member states had been invited to take part.

Trump has accused BRICS countries of pursuing “anti-American” policies, and in January last year, threatened all member states with an additional 10% trade tariff on top of duties he had already imposed on various countries worldwide.

South Africa’s pro-Western Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s coalition, criticised the exercises, arguing that they “contradict our stated neutrality” and claiming BRICS had “rendered South Africa a pawn in the power games being waged by rogue states on the international stage.”

Mathebula dismissed those accusations.

“This is not a political arrangement … there is no hostility (towards the U.S.),” she told Reuters, noting that South Africa has also periodically conducted joint exercises with the U.S. Navy.

“It’s a naval exercise. The intention is for us to improve our capabilities and share information,” she said.

By Tamilla Hasanova