Iran, Russia hold joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea

The Russian fleet, including the Makhachkala of the Navy Brigade of the Caspian Sea, participated in the exercises, ISNA reported.

It had berthed at Iran's northern port city of Anzali on Wednesday as part of programs to boost military cooperation between the two countries.

It was the fifth Russian fleet that visited the Caspian port of Iran during the last decade, while vessels from both countries regularly make "friendly visits".

Iran has also sent fleets to Russian ports on similar missions.

In October 2016, a Russian naval flotilla arrived in Anzali in response to the dispatch of Iran's naval fleets to Astrakhan in southern Russia in September. The visits aimed to convey messages of peace and to help improve bilateral ties.

More fleets from Caspian littoral states would arrive in Iran's northern ports in the future, said Iran's Rear Admiral Afshin Rezaei Haddad.

“The navies of five Caspian littoral countries are cooperating to secure it as the sea for peace, mutual respect and good-neighborliness,” he added.