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MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Russia, China and Iran kicked off the Maritime Security Belt 2023 trilateral naval exercise in the Arabian Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday. Today the trilateral naval exercise Maritime Security Belt 2023 involving the navies of Russia, the People’s Liberation Army of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran has begun in the area of Chabahar Port in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the ministry said in a statement. The Russian Navy is represented in the drills by a naval group that consists of the frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov and the medium sea tanker Kama, the ministry said. At the first stage of the drills, the naval sailors from the three countries will practice episodes of the trilateral naval exercise on maps for joint operations at sea, receive instructions and hold tactical briefings. The naval phase will run on March 16 17. During this stage, the navies from the three countries will exercise to set up a multinational task force of combat ships, conduct joint maneuvering and carry out artillery firings in the daytime and at night. The naval sailors will also practice freeing a captured vessel, rendering assistance to ships in distress and some other objectives, the ministry said. The Northern Fleet’s naval group will practice joint operations with the Chinese destroyer Nanjing, the frigates Sahand and Jamaran, the corvette Bayandor and other ships and vessels from the Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the statement reads. The results of the joint work after the completion of the Maritime Security Belt 2023 exercise will be summed up on March 18, the ministry reported.