Tehran claims long-time rivals will hold naval exercises together - Riyadh yet to confirm report.

Iran and Saudi Arabia will hold naval exercises in the Red Sea, in what would mark the first time the two countries – which have a long history of hostility towards each other – will collaborate in a military setting.

“Saudi Arabia has asked that we organize joint exercises in the Red Sea,” the commander of Iran’s navy, Admiral Shahram Irani, told state-controlled Iranian news agency ISNA. “Coordination efforts are currently in progress, and delegations from both countries will engage in necessary discussions regarding the execution of the exercise,” he added.

Irani did not provide a timeframe or additional details regarding the drills.

Riyadh has yet to confirm the report.

The drills come after years of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, who were engaged in a bloody proxy conflict in Yemen for nearly a decade.

From 2016 to 2023, the two countries official suspended diplomatic relations with each other, mutually withdrawing their ambassadors and closing their embassies.

Saudi Arabia and Iran officially re-established diplomatic relations in a China-brokered March 2023 agreement, but the level of trust between the two nations remains unclear.

While Saudi Arabia does not officially recognize Israel, Riyadh and Jerusalem are believed to maintain extensive under-the-radar ties, primarily around security cooperation.

It’s unclear how Iran’s emnity towards Israel will affect Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the Jewish State.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently repeated Tehran’s messaging blaming Israel for tensions in the region.

“We have done our best to reduce the tension, but we are prepared to deal with any scenario,” Araghchi said during a press conference in Kuwait.

“Our message is very clear: the Zionist regime is seeking to expand the war in the region, and we must stop this disaster,” he added.

Araghchi failed to mention Iran’s two unprecedented ballistic missile attacks on Israel in 2024, most recently at the beginning of October, nor the country’s policy of arming and training proxy groups hostile to Israel.

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