By Johnathan Paoli
South Africa will on Friday start its controversial week-long round of multinational naval exercises with China, Iran, and Russia at Naval Base Simon’s Town.
The games come despite mounting diplomatic unease from the United States and growing domestic criticism over the country’s military readiness and foreign policy direction.
The exercise, officially titled “Exercise Will for Peace 2026”, will run until next week Friday in South African waters, and is being led by China.
Chinese and Iranian warships have already arrived in False Bay, while Russian naval vessels are expected to dock ahead of the formal launch on Saturday, completing a grouping that has placed Pretoria’s claim of international non-alignment under renewed scrutiny.
Two Chinese vessels, the Type 052DL guided-missile destroyer Tangshan and the Type 903A replenishment ship Taihu, were spotted off the Cape coast earlier this week.
They were joined on Thursday by the Iranian Navy’s forward
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