After reports of Iranian missile fire in the most strategically important shipping lane in the Persian Gulf, Tehran announced that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed to all maritime traffic for several hours due to a "Smart Control" exercise conducted by the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The drill, which began Monday, included what Iranian media described as massive missile launches from coastal batteries and missile boats, as well as special forces landing exercises carried out by helicopter in and around the vital waterway.
?BREAKING "IRGC Navy will partially block the Strait of Hormuz for a few hours today as part of a drill.": State broadcaster in Iran.
Happening as U.S. diplomats engage regime representatives for talks.
And after Khamenei, all top officials, again rejected U.S. demands. pic.twitter.com/fOyYTT38CF
— Khosro K Isfahani (@KhosroIsfahani) February 17, 2026
At the same time, Russia, China and Iran deployed naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz for joint maneuvers, Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear whether the Russian and Chinese ships had already joined the ongoing Iranian drill or were expected to participate in the coming days.
In an interview with the weekly Argumenty i Fakty, Patrushev said Moscow was working to build what he called a "multipolar world order in the oceans" in response to what he described as Western hegemony. "We will leverage the potential of the BRICS countries, which must now be given a full strategic maritime dimension," he said.
Patrushev added that the first BRICS naval exercise, dubbed "Maritime Security Belt 2026," was held in January in the South Atlantic Ocean and included Russia, China, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
According to Patrushev, participating navies trained in coordinating efforts to protect trade routes, which he said were becoming increasingly vulnerable. "The Maritime Security Belt 2026 exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, to which Russia, China and Iran sent their ships, have proven their relevance," he said.
The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is considered one of the world's most strategically important chokepoints. Experts estimate that roughly one-quarter of global oil and natural gas output passes through the strait en route to markets worldwide.
