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VEENDAM, Netherlands — A 420-meter, or quarter-mile, white steel tube running alongside a railway line in the windswept northern Netherlands could usher in a new era for the transportation of people and freight.

The tube is the heart of the new European Hyperloop Center that opens Tuesday and will be a proving ground in coming years for developers of the evolving technology.

Hyperloop, once trumpeted by Elon Musk, involves capsules floating on magnetic fields zipping at speeds of around 700 kph (435 mph) through low-pressure tubes. Its advocates tout it as far more efficient than short-haul flights, high-speed rail and freight trucks.

But since Musk unveiled the concept that he said could shuttle passengers the nearly 645 kilometers (400 miles) between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes, it has progressed at a much slower pace from the drawing board toward the real world.

“I expect by 2030, you will have the first hyperloop route, maybe 5 kilometers (3 miles) in which people will actually be transporting passengers,” said the center’s director, Sascha Lamme. “Actually, there’s already preparations being done for such routes in, for example, Italy or India.”

Not everybody is as optimistic about Hyperloop’s future.

“This is just another example of policymakers chasing a shiny object when basic investment in infrastructure is needed,” Robert Noland, distinguished professor at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said in comments emailed to The Associated Press.

“It costs too much to build,” he added.

Lamme said skeptics should come and look for themselves.

“We built the European Hyperloop Center and from what we have built, we know that we can be competitive with high-speed rail,” he said. “And then, we have not even included all the cost optimizations that we can do in the coming decade to reduce that even further.”

The test center’s tube is made up of 34 separate sections mostly 2½ meters (more than 8 feet) in diameter. A vacuum pump in a steel container next to the tube sucks out the air to reduce the internal pressure. That reduces drag and allows capsules to travel at such high speeds.

A test capsule built by Dutch hyperloop pioneer Hardt Hyperloop will take part next month in the first tests at the center that is funded by private investment as well as contributions from the provincial government, the Dutch national government and the European Commission.

A unique feature of the Veendam tube is that it has a switch — where it splits into two separate tubes, a piece of infrastructure that will be critical to real-life applications.

“Lane switching is very important for hyperloop, because it allows vehicles to travel from any origin to any destination,” said Marinus van der Meijs, Hardt’s technology and engineering director. “So, it really creates a network effect where you sort of have a highway of tubes and vehicles can take an on- and off-ramp, or they can take a lane switch to go to a different part of Europe or to a different destination.”

While testing continues in Veendam, hyperloop developers hope that destinations for their technology are forthcoming.

“Really, the main challenge is finding government commitments to build routes. And on the other hand, finding new funding to realize the necessary test facility and technology demonstration that you need to do to make this happen,” Lamme said.
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Britain’s high court has ruled the United States must guarantee that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will not get the death penalty if he is extradited to the U.S. on espionage charges. Assange’s lawyers are fighting to allow a full appeal against his extradition on accusations related to Wikileaks’ publishing of stolen military files. For VOA, Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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London — A new report and research from a British defense research group has found that many Western nations are still reliant on Russian nuclear fuel to power their reactors, despite efforts to sever economic ties with the Kremlin following its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

“Russia may be able to take advantage of incongruencies in sanctions or other restrictions, as well as persistent contractual dependencies and supply challenges, to maintain access to Western nuclear fuel supply chains and continue generating revenue through its enriched uranium exports,” the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, says in its report.  

Rosatom 

Of those supplying nuclear fuel, Rosatom, Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, “is the biggest supplier of uranium enrichment to the global market” and has continued to export significant volumes of enriched uranium product since February 2022. The report estimates that Russia sold enriched uranium worth $2.7 billion in 2023. 

Rosatom supplied some 30 percent of the enriched uranium purchased by European Union states in 2022, and 23 percent of that purchased by U.S. utility companies, according to the RUSI analysis of publicly available statistics. Not all countries publish their import or export figures for nuclear materials. 

Western companies may be finding it difficult to change long-term contracts with Rosatom, said Darya Dolzikova, author of the RUSI report. “In the enriched uranium space in particular, there are historical dependencies, so there are contractual obligations that might be difficult for certain utilities to get out of,” she told VOA. 

French dependency 

France, which has 56 nuclear reactors generating around two-thirds of the country’s electricity, is one of Russia’s biggest customers for enriched uranium, despite growing political tensions between Paris and Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. 

“Imports into France of Russian enriched uranium have increased significantly since the start of 2022. So there was an increase of about 184 percent in volume,” Dolzikova said.

French utility EDF is even planning a joint venture with Russia’s state-run Rosatom to process uranium at a site in Lingen, Germany.  

The RUSI report also details Russian uranium exports to the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. “Russia is still the biggest exporter of enriched uranium and enrichment services globally. They account for about 44% total capacity of enrichment services,” Dolzikova added. 

Decarbonization 

Global enthusiasm for nuclear power fell after the 2011 Fukushima reactor meltdown in Japan.  

However, as countries try to slash carbon emissions to combat climate change, many governments are rethinking their approach to atomic power. At a March 21 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Brussels, several world leaders called for a reinvestment in nuclear power.   

“Adapting supply chains take time. And doing it in a secure and reliable way takes time. But it is clearly one of the assignments to the industry and to governments working on this, is to adapt supply chains as fast as possible and also … to disconnect from Russian supply,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told delegates at the IAEA meeting. 

“But we need to balance things, I mean, in a sense, if you want to decarbonize, if you want to reduce CO2 production, we need to make sure that our nuclear power plants can continue,” De Croo added. 

China ‘displacement’ 

The report says Russian exports to China have also increased, raising suspicions that Beijing could be importing Russian enriched uranium to facilitate greater exports of China’s own enriched uranium supply — so-called “displacement.” 

“We know that China is also keen to increase its own role, expanded zone role on global nuclear fuel markets. So that raises questions as to whether the additional imports into China of Russian uranium could potentially be backing increased exports of Chinese material. That is very difficult to prove definitively,” said report author Dolzikova. 

Self-sufficiency 

Western nations are trying to boost their nuclear self-sufficiency. France is boosting uranium enrichment capacity by more than 30 percent at a site in the southern region of Valence, according to nuclear industry reports. The American firm Westinghouse and Ukrainian firm Energoatom have begun producing nuclear fuel that can supply former Soviet reactors in eastern Europe, from a site in Sweden.   

Dolzikova of RUSI said it will take at least two years for the West to end its reliance on Russian nuclear fuel. While boosting Western enrichment capacity is vital, the RUSI report also recommends that trade measures are tightened to cut Russia out of global markets. 

“Sanctions — or any kind of restrictions — need to be multilateral. Otherwise, because of the complexity of enriched uranium supply chains and fuel supply chains, Russia will find the weakest link in that wall of restrictions to try to continue accessing Western markets,” Dolzikova added.
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An analysis by Britain’s Royal United Services Institute has found that many Western nations still rely on Russian nuclear fuel to power their reactors, despite efforts to sever economic ties with the Kremlin following its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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Geneva — Russian activists are warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin will use the deadly terrorist attack on a concert hall outside Moscow to tighten his grip on power and further repress society.

“It truly scares me how this regime uses terrorism,” said Evgenia Kara-Murza, a human rights activist and wife of political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Addressing reporters a press conference in Geneva, she warned that Putin would likely use Friday’s horrific event “to start new aggressions against our neighbors.”

“And, of course, the fact that the terrorists were caught near the Ukrainian border raises many questions as to whether it is a provocation or whether the terrorist attack is being used as such,” she said.

Though the militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 137 people and injured some 182 others, the Kremlin has been trying, without any evidence, to link the attack to Ukraine.

Kara-Murza said she doubts that Putin will even investigate the attack, noting that there were no investigations into previous attacks that occurred after the Chechen war in 1999 and the Beslan school massacre in 2004.

In a report on the Beslan attack for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Leonid Velekhov, a former aide to Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, reported that the official investigation “ignored any question of responsibility on the part of federal authorities or the local command center for the high price paid for the liberation of Beslan’s surviving hostages.”

Kara-Murza also said she was scared by calls by members of Putin’s regime to bring back the death penalty following Friday’s attack on the concert hall.

“If the death penalty were reinstated, it would first be used against those people who were being accused of terrorism.

“People accused of terrorism in today’s Russia include activists or just regular citizens who were trying to set conscription centers on fire,” she said, referring to 28 arson attempts on Russian military enlistment offices in Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea between July 29 and August 2.

Kara-Murza said the lives of political prisoners are at risk, and that she fears for her husband, who is serving a 25-year sentence for treason, charges he denies.

Sergei Davidis, head of the political prisoners support program at the Memorial human rights center, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, said that pictures of the four men accused of the concert hall terror attack showed signs of severe beating, indicating that they had been tortured.

He observed that mass torture of those charged with terrorism and other crimes has been a common occurrence in Russia. However, what is different this time is that for the first time, this practice of torture “was made public,” he said.

“They think, I am sure, that they will be supported by the people. … They decided now that there is no reason to conceal their methods. They are not limited by the European Court of Human Rights now. They just were honest this time because they decided it was possible,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is rather a bad sign.”

Davidis expressed concern that a more emboldened Russia would likely increase the hardships and levels of cruelty and brutality to which political prisoners are exposed daily.

According to Memorial, around 700 people are imprisoned in Russia for exercising their human rights and freedoms; among them are at least 250 people imprisoned because of their anti-war stance.

“Those people who support Ukraine are actively aggressed” by the authorities, he said. “Any expression of opposition, any statement that contradicts official propaganda narratives, are ground for the deprivation of liberty.”

OVD-Info, another human rights project, provides data on 3,679 people subjected to politically motivated criminal prosecution in Russia.

Violetta Fitsner, a lawyer with OVD-Info, said, “All these people are in danger, especially those who have poor health and are punished for their activities.”

Citing Navalny, who died in prison February 16, Fitsner said, “About 70% of prisoners deprived of liberty on political grounds, who have poor health, are denied medical care,” adding that many have serious physical and mental issues.

“We demand the immediate release of political prisoners whose health and lives are in danger,” she said.

Davidis said Russian prisons are teeming with prisoners of conscience, including people trying to evade conscription into the army and thousands of religious minorities who are deprived of their liberty for practicing their faith.

“The prosecution and deprivation of liberty is the foundation of Putin’s regime,” he said. “The release of Russian political prisoners must become a condition of any easing of sanctions against Russia, and of any peace settlement for Ukraine.”
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sydney — New Zealand said Monday a free trade agreement with the European Union would come into effect on May 1, after the country’s parliament ratified the deal.

New Zealand notified the European Union it ratified the agreement earlier on Monday, Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said in a statement.

Wellington and Brussels signed the deal in July 2023, with the European Parliament ratifying its side of the agreement in November.

New Zealand expects the deal to benefit its beef, lamb, butter and cheese industries, as well as removing tariffs on other exports like its iconic kiwi fruit.

The EU will see tariffs lifted on its exports including clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cars, as well as wine and confections.

The EU is New Zealand’s fourth-largest trade partner, according to government data, with two-way goods and services trade worth $12.10 billion in 2022.
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PARIS — France’s government increased its security alert posture to the highest level Sunday after the deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the decision in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying authorities were “taking into account the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country.”

The announcement came after President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency security meeting prompted by Friday’s attack in a Moscow suburb that killed more than 130 people. The attack was claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.

France has repeatedly been hit by deadly Islamic State attacks, including the Bataclan theater massacre in 2015 in which extremists opened fire on concertgoers and held hostages for hours. French troops have also fought against Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Africa.

France was already on high security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics this year, which are expected to draw millions of visitors to the country.

Security concerns are notably high for the exceptional opening ceremony July 26, which will involve boats riding along the Seine River and huge crowds watching from the embankments.
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Three of the four suspects charged with carrying out the concert hall attack in Moscow that killed more than 130 people have admitted guilt for the incident in a Russian court.
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Russia observed a day of mourning Sunday following a deadly attack on a music venue in a Moscow suburb. Islamic State took credit for the assault that killed 137 people. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us more.
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london — Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier next month after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar, who announced his surprise resignation last week.

Harris, 37, who has been the coalition government’s further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland’s previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach.

Harris is expected to be formally elected premier in the Irish parliament in early April after lawmakers return from their Easter break.

In his victory speech in the central Ireland town of Athlone, Harris said this was a “moment for Fine Gael to reconnect” with the people.

“There is a hell of a lot to get done in the time ahead,” he said. “But let me say this: Under my leadership, Fine Gael stands for supporting businesses, especially small businesses.”

Harris said nothing about the coalition government, which came into place at the end of 2020, but has previously said that he would remain fully committed to the program for government agreed upon with partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party. He has stopped short of ruling out a general election this year, but insisted such a poll wasn’t his priority.

Varadkar, 45, has had two spells as taoiseach — between 2017 and 2020, and again since December 2022 as part of a job share with Micheal Martin, the head of Fianna Fail.

He was the country’s youngest-ever leader when first elected at age 38, as well as Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister. Varadkar, whose mother is Irish and father is Indian, was also Ireland’s first biracial taoiseach.

He played a leading role in campaigns to legalize same-sex marriage, approved in a 2015 referendum, and to repeal a ban on abortion, which passed in a vote in 2018.

He led Ireland during the years after Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union. Brexit had huge implications for Ireland, an EU member that shares a border with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland. U.K.-Ireland relations were strained while hardcore Brexit-backer Boris Johnson was U.K. leader but have steadied since the arrival of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
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London — Catherine, Princess of Wales, has said she is “enormously touched” by the support she has received from around the world following her shock announcement that she is being treated for cancer. 

Catherine, 42, revealed Friday that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy in a video message to the UK, triggering a wave of support from global leaders, family members and the public.   

“The prince and princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the UK, across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness’ message,” Catherine and her husband Prince William, the heir to the throne, said in a statement released late Saturday.   

“They are extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.”   

The announcement ended weeks of speculation about Catherine’s health, with many praising her courage and others criticizing the conspiracies that spread over her absence.  

The candid disclosure leaves the British monarchy in crisis with King Charles III just weeks ago revealing he was also battling cancer.    

Charles — who was just 17 months into his reign when Buckingham Palace announced in February he would be cancelling all public engagements — led tributes to his “beloved daughter-in-law.”  

The 75-year-old monarch spoke of his pride in “her courage in speaking as she did.”  

Global support 

Following other warm words from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the White House, British newspapers hailed her courage.   

“Kate, you are not alone” read the front page of The Sun. The tabloid said it was “hugely comforting” to hear Kate say she was getting stronger.   

“Perhaps the world will now appreciate why so much secrecy surrounded her surgery in January,” it added.   

The Daily Mail tabloid denounced the “social media trolls who have been peddling disgusting conspiracy theories to explain her absence from public life.”

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt, whose younger brother died of cancer last year, told Sky News on Sunday that “the thing that really cut me to the quick was when she explained the hardest thing of all for people who’ve had cancer in their family, which is how you tell your kids.”  

Outside Kensington Palace in London, Nathaniel Taylor, a 24-year-old government worker, said: “I think it’s really damning what happened to them, what the media has done, how they’ve reacted over these past couple of months.   

“I think some speculation is inevitable but the lengths people were going to try and make things up, it’s just… Hopefully people take a look in the mirror.”   

Royal health woes 

In her statement, Kate, as the princess is widely known, said the diagnosis was a “huge shock” and asked for “time, space and privacy” as she completes chemotherapy.    

In the video — recorded on Wednesday in Windsor, west of London, where the future queen and king live with their three young children — she insisted she was “well.”  

She said it had taken them time to explain the situation to Prince George, aged 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old Prince Louis, “and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.”  

Buckingham Palace had announced on February 5 that tests had identified Charles had “a form of cancer”, without giving further details.     

He has cancelled all public engagements except audiences with the prime minister and ambassadors, and is working on official papers while receiving treatment.    

He has been photographed several times since then, and seen attending church.    

“There’s no doubt at all that it’s a very, very difficult time for the institution of monarchy,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told AFP.   

Kate was last seen at a public engagement on December 25.   

Kensington Palace announced on January 17 that she faced up to two weeks in hospital and several months’ recuperation following abdominal surgery.    

She was not expected to be ready to return to public duties until after Easter on March 31, a statement at the time said.   

But Kate disclosed that tests after the operation “found cancer had been present” and that she was now undergoing “preventative chemotherapy.”   

Kensington Palace said she would return to official duties “when she is cleared to do so by her medical team.” 
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Rome — Pope Francis decided at the last minute to skip his homily during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, avoiding a strenuous speech at the start of a busy Holy Week that will test his increasingly frail health.

Hobbled by bad knees and persistent respiratory problems, Francis also didn’t participate in the procession of cardinals around the obelisk in the piazza at the start of the Mass. Instead, the 87-year-old pontiff blessed the palm fronds and olive branches carried by the faithful from the altar.

Francis had been expected to deliver a homily halfway through the service and had pronounced the prayers during the Mass. But after several seconds of silence, announcers said Francis had decided not to deliver the homily itself.

Vatican officials estimated some 25,000 people attended the Mass, held under a sunny, breezy spring sky.

Palm Sunday kicks off a busy week for Francis leading up to Easter Sunday when the faithful commemorate the resurrection of Christ. On Thursday, Francis is due to travel to a Rome women’s prison for the traditional washing of the feet ritual. On Friday he is scheduled to preside over the nighttime Way of the Cross procession at Rome’s Colosseum re-enacting Christ’s crucifixion.

The following day marks the Easter Vigil, during which Francis presides over a solemn nighttime service in the basilica, followed by Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square and his noontime blessing from the loggia above.

Off and on this winter, Francis has been battling what he and the Vatican have described as a case of the flu, bronchitis or a cold. For the last several weeks he has occasionally asked an aide to read aloud his speeches and catechism lessons to spare him the effort. 
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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — A pro-Western career diplomat defeated a close ally of Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico in the first round of the presidential election Sunday to set up a runoff between the two to decide who will succeed Zuzana Caputova, the country’s first female president. 

Former Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok had 42.13% of the votes late Saturday, with nearly all polling stations counted by Slovakia’s Statistics Office. Peter Pellegrini was in second with 37.28%.

Because no candidate won an outright majority, a runoff will be held April 6 in this central European nation of 5.4 million people. 

A former justice minister and judge, Stefan Harabin, 66, who has openly sided with Russia in its war with Ukraine, was a distant third with 11.79%. 

In all, nine male candidates sought to become Slovakia’s sixth head of state since it gained independence in 1993 after Czechoslovakia split in two. 

Caputova, a staunch backer of neighboring Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, didn’t seek a second term in the largely ceremonial post. 

Korcok called the result “encouraging” and “promising,” but added that “we have to do more to win the runoff.” 

“I’m planning to approach all voters,” he said. 

Korcok also has served as Slovakia’s ambassador to the United States and Germany and firmly supports his country’s membership in the European Union and NATO. 

Pellegrini was considered a favorite in the race, and opinion polls suggested he would beat any candidate in the runoff. 

He congratulated Korcok on his victory in the first round and predicted a close contest in the runoff. 

“It will likely be a tight race,” Pellegrini said. 

A victory for Pellegrini, who currently serves as Parliament speaker, would cement Fico’s power by giving him and his allies control of strategic posts. 

Pellegrini, 48, who favors a strong role for the state, heads the left-wing Hlas (Voice) party that finished third in the September 30 parliamentary elections. His party joined a governing coalition with Fico’s leftist Smer (Direction) party and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party. 

The new government immediately halted arms deliveries to Ukraine. Thousands have repeatedly taken to the streets across Slovakia recently to rally against Fico’s pro-Russian and other policies, including plans to amend the penal code and take control of the public media. 

Critics worry Slovakia under Fico will abandon its pro-Western course and follow the direction of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

Pellegrini said Saturday that Slovakia’s membership in the European Union and NATO hasn’t been questioned. 

“That we talk about a more sovereign voice of Slovakia or about a sovereign foreign policy … doesn’t necessarily mean that we change the basic direction of our foreign policy,” Pellegrini said. 
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ATHENS — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Cyprus should be a Turkish state.

Erdogan defended his country’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus, saying there would be no “Cyprus problem” had Turkish forces gone farther and taken over the entire state.

The remarks angered Greece, sparking fresh tension between the two age-old foes. The government in Athens slammed what it called the “provocative remarks.”

Officials in Athens attribute the outbursts to upcoming local elections in Turkey and efforts by Erdogan to spoil what opinion polls show as growing gains being made by his party’s main opponent in the key city of Istanbul.

There is no doubt, Greek Immigration Minister Dimitris Keridis said, that Erdogan will polarize voters as they head to the elections and that Erdogan is “bound to continue appealing to the hardline nationalist vote to support his key candidates.”

Erdogan’s remark came during an iftar dinner this week with top military commanders. Turkish media quoted him as saying that had Turkish troops pushed south, “there would be no more north and south, and Cyprus would be completely ours.”

The timing of Erdogan’s remarks comes as the United Nations is exploring new ways to jump-start peace talks on Cyprus, which after 50 years remains divided between a Turkish-Cypriot north and a Greek-Cypriot south. Since 1974, several efforts by the United Nations and the United States to reunite the island have failed.

However, attempts by Athens and Ankara in recent months to bridge long-standing differences and to ease tensions have given the U.N. new incentive to revisit the peace talks.

Constantinos Filis, director of the Institute of Global Affairs in Athens, said Erdogan’s remarks aim to set his country’s conditions.

“The immediate message he wants to send to the U.N. is that Turkey is a strong player, in control of developments on the ground, and that all efforts should be focused on it if the talks are to restart,” Fillis said.

Turkey has long supported the permanent partition of Cyprus, a solution that the U.N. and the global community have refused on grounds it would legalize the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island.

Whether Turkey’s uncompromising stance will scupper the U.N.’s latest peace efforts remains to be seen.

Greek government officials contacted by VOA say that nonetheless, the latest tiff with Turkey will not spoil plans by the prime minister to meet with Erdogan in high-level talks set to take place in May.
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tel aviv, israel — China conducted joint military drills this week with Russia and Iran in the Gulf of Oman, a critical water conduit near the entry to the Persian Gulf.

The five-day exercise, “Maritime Security Belt 2024,” involved both naval and aviation forces, with the primary objective of enhancing the security of maritime economic activities, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

The drills may have been planned long in advance of the current Israel-Hamas war, but their implication and message to regional players and the West are highly significant, analysts say.

More than 20 ships, combat boats, support carriers and navy helicopters participated in the exercise.

Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) debuted new warships in the exercise, including the Shahid Soleimani corvette.

“That’s a game changer,” Wendell Minnick, an arms specialist and “China in Arms” podcaster,  told VOA.

“Pay close attention to anti-ship missiles on ships,” Minnick said. “The U.S. Navy has a real problem with these types of missiles.”

The IRGC-operated Shahid Soleimani corvette is equipped with long- and short-range anti-ship cruise missiles. It’s the first Iranian warship outfitted with advanced VLS, or Vertical Launching Systems, for firing surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.

“This gives the U.S. Navy a nightmare scenario of being saturated by multidirectional vectors of attack that they cannot possibly defeat en masse,” Minnick said. “Like being attacked by bees or ants. Eventually they will get you.”

Rear Admiral Mohammad Nozari, the IRGC commander of Iran’s base at Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, told the Mehr News Agency the drill’s chief objectives were consolidating regional security, promoting China-Russia-Iran cooperation, and safeguarding global peace and maritime security.

Analysts say Chinese, Russian and Iranian objectives go far beyond the IRGC top naval commander’s stated claims.

“The Chinese and the Russians are using this exercise as a variety of tools disposable to them to show their presence and to pressure the West,” said Meir Javedanfar, who teaches Iranian security studies at Reichman University, in Herzliya, Israel.

“The Chinese are saying these exercises are normal and have nothing to do with what’s happening in the Middle East,” Javedanfar said in an interview with VOA.

“Nevertheless, the fact that these exercises are taking place against the background of an unprecedented U.S. and Western naval presence in the Middle East shows that the rivalry between the China-Russia-Iran front against the Western front is now heating up, and the Middle East waters are playing an important part in this rivalry.”

The rivalry takes on heightened significance when weighed against the recent uptick in Chinese participation in regional drills.

In November, China collaborated with Pakistan in “Sea Guardian 3” joint naval exercises in the Arabian Sea. It was the biggest joint People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Pakistani Navy drill to date and included land and sea phases.

China’s warships are stationed at a naval base in Djibouti near the Red Sea waters where Iranian-backed Houthis declaring solidarity with Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas conflict have since last year repeatedly fired drones and missiles at ships. China has not publicly condemned the attacks.

“If China really wanted the Houthis to stop these attacks against Western shipping, they could pressure the Iranians and the Iranians would listen, but they’re not doing this because they want to pressure Western economies and to show that they have influence in the region,” Javedanfar said.

“The drills play a part in the larger strategy led by China and Russia and Iran,” Javedanfar said.

Sophie Kobzantsev, a Russia analyst and research fellow at the Misgav Institute in Jerusalem, says the Gulf of Oman drill is part strategy, part message.

“From the beginning — the Russia-Ukraine war — Russia’s goal was to create a new world order in which it gets a role or a place as super world power,” Kobzantsev told VOA.

“Part of this concept of the new world order is to partially create a military balance vis-a-vis the West. The drill serves Russia — and Iran and China — in creating the image and the message to the West that there is a counterstrategic military coalition.”

Leading the Russian contingent was the missile cruiser Varyag from its Pacific Fleet, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Naval representatives from Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Oman, India and South Africa served as observers during the exercises.

The drills come just a week after NATO’s Nordic Response exercises, the most expansive NATO drills since the Cold War ended in 1991. Nordic Response incorporated military participation of NATO’s newest member states Sweden and Finland.

With an increased U.S. foothold in the Middle East due to its role in mediating the Israel-Gulf States Abraham Accords, pursuing the normalization of Israel-Saudi ties and now mediating between Israel and Hamas, the drill also takes on “countermessage” significance, said Kobzantsev.

The area where the joint drills are taking place is also significant.  An estimated 20% of globally traded oil moves through the narrow Strait of Hormuz passage linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Since 2019 the Gulf of Oman has seen a series of ship seizures and attacks that the U.S. has blamed on Iran, although Tehran has denied any involvement.

“We actually see a kind of formation of the world that is reminding us of the Cold War and that there is a new clash between superpowers in this world,” said Kobzantsev. “The West vs. Russia, China and Iran.”

Marine Security Belt 2024 is the fourth joint China-Russia-Iran military exercise since 2019. 

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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