Well, well, well, what do we have potential going on here: Iran says it’s planning to hold 1st joint military drills with Saudis in Red Sea

 Iran says it's planning to hold 1st joint military drills with Saudis in Red Sea | The Times of Israel

Riyadh has not confirmed it will join the exercises with regional rival Tehran, with which it severed diplomatic ties for years until 2023

File: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (R) meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Riyadh, October 9, 2024. (Saudi Foreign Ministry/AFP)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran and Saudi Arabia are planning to conduct joint military exercises in the Red Sea, according to an Iranian report not confirmed by Riyadh, in what would be a first for the regional heavyweights.

The two Middle East rivals, which have long backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the region, severed diplomatic ties in 2016.

However, Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia resumed relations last year under a surprise China-brokered deal.

“Saudi Arabia has asked that we organize joint exercises in the Red Sea,” the commander of Iran’s navy, Admiral Shahram Irani, was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency ISNA.

“Coordination is underway and delegations from both countries will hold the necessary consultations on how to conduct the exercise,” he added, without providing details including a timeline.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm whether it would hold joint military exercises with Iran.

Islamic Republic of Iran Navy fast attack craft IRIS Zereh (P235) at sea during the ‘Maritime Security Belt 2024’ combined naval exercise between Iran, Russia, and China in the Gulf of Oman, in an image released on March 12, 2024. (AFP/Iranian Defense Ministry)

Since November, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have waged a campaign of attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in what they say is a show of solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The Houthis also have launched missiles targeting Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes from the Israelis late last month that targeted Houthi infrastructure in western Yemen.

The Houthis have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, months after they seized the capital Sanaa and most of Yemen’s population centers, forcing the internationally recognized government south to Aden.

Saudi Arabia, which has backed the Aden government, has engaged in a delicate balancing act as the world’s biggest oil exporter tries to extricate itself from the war on its doorstep.

It did not join a US-led naval coalition to deter Houthi attacks.

Efforts by the kingdom to broker a Yemen peace deal also faltered in the wake of the Houthi attacks on ships.