CAPE TOWN — Warships from China, Russia and Iran have begun a week of naval drills with South Africa in waters off Cape Town, in an exercise organised under the BRICS grouping as Washington escalates action against Venezuelan oil shipments.

The exercise started on Friday in False Bay, close to the naval base at Simon’s Town, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic. South Africa’s armed forces said the manoeuvres would practise maritime safety and anti-piracy operations and were intended to “deepen cooperation” among participating forces. The drills were described as Chinese-led and were planned under BRICS last year.

Chinese vessels in the area include the guided-missile destroyer Tangshan, described by South African officials as a 161-metre destroyer-class ship, and the supply ship Taihu. Russia’s Baltic Fleet said it had deployed the corvette Stoikiy and a replenishment tanker. An Iranian warship identified as Naghdi was photographed docked at Simon’s Town.

The drills had been scheduled for late November but were postponed for diplomatic reasons after South Africa hosted the Group of 20 summit, which brought Western and other leaders to the country. South Africa last hosted Chinese and Russian ships for joint drills in 2023.

The deployment coincides with a wider dispute between the United States and Venezuela and a series of US maritime enforcement actions aimed at sanctioned oil exports. The Associated Press reported on Friday that US forces seized a fifth tanker linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil, the Olina, in the Caribbean as part of what it described as an effort to disrupt shipments carried by vessels operating with concealed identities.

South Africa’s decision to host ships from Russia and Iran is also likely to add to friction with Washington. In an executive order issued in February 2025, President Donald Trump directed the United States to halt aid and assistance to South Africa while accusing Pretoria of supporting “bad actors on the world stage”, including through its ties with Iran.

Pretoria says it follows a non-aligned foreign policy, but its handling of Russian naval visits has already been contested. In 2023, the Biden administration accused South Africa of allowing a sanctioned Russian vessel to dock at Simon’s Town and load weapons to be taken to Russia for the war in Ukraine; South Africa denied the allegation.

The BRICS label is central to South Africa’s framing of the exercise. BRICS began as a forum for Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. The group expanded in 2024 to include, among others, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. A parliamentary briefing noted that Saudi Arabia was invited but had not formally accepted membership. China and Russia have used BRICS meetings to criticise Western policy; Iran formally joined in 2024.

South African officials said on Friday that they could not yet confirm whether other BRICS countries would take part in the drills beyond those already in port.

Domestic criticism has accompanied the exercise. The Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in South Africa’s coalition government, said it opposed hosting drills that included “heavily sanctioned” Russia and Iran. In a statement, the party said the government was “choosing closer military ties” with those states.

Photographs published by the Associated Press showed a protester at Simon’s Town harbour objecting to Russia’s naval presence, highlighting the sensitivity of the base’s role in South Africa’s foreign relationships.

Iran’s participation comes as protests have been reported inside the country against the Islamic Republic’s leadership, though South African officials presented the exercise as a maritime cooperation activity rather than a political signal.

For South Africa, Simon’s Town is both a strategic facility and a diplomatic test. The base lies on a major sea route around the Cape, used by commercial shipping moving between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. By hosting a BRICS-branded drill involving Chinese, Russian and Iranian warships, Pretoria is tightening military ties with states under extensive Western sanctions and sharpening the risk of a direct political and economic backlash from Washington, including further cuts to cooperation and funding.

The drills are scheduled to run until next Friday.