Iran, China and Russia will conduct a joint naval exercise in the coming weeks under what the trio claims aims at "ensuring regional security."

The commander of Iran's Navy, Shahram Irani, announced that other countries have also been invited to participate, although did not specify beyond China and Russia.

Irani emphasized that “the primary strategy of the Iranian Army Navy in the current situation is to safeguard the interests and economic resources of the Islamic system and its people,” referring to growing tensions in the Middle East sparked by Iran-backed militia Hamas's invasion of Israel on October 7.

In the wake of Israel's retaliatory attacks, Iran's proxies came out in allegiance, triggering a simmering regional conflict. US bases have been targeted over 160 times across the region as punishment for supporting Israel's right to defend itself.

Last year the three pariah states conducted a joint naval maneuver in the Gulf of Oman as they become a growing threat to the wider global landscape. 

This week, the think tank Policy Exchange revealed that the UK faces "a back-door threat from the growing Iranian, Russian and Chinese presence in the Republic of Ireland, a mounting challenge for a chronically deficient Irish security and intelligence apparatus".

The threat from the anti-Western trio, experts warned, requires the UK to expand its air and naval presence in Northern Ireland, to counter a growing threat.