The joint Iranian-Russian naval drill in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman concluded on Feb. 19. Iranian and Russian naval personnel successfully carried out a simulated rescue operation to retake a hijacked commercial vessel during combined naval exercises on Feb/ 19 in the waters off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, reported Tasnim. The drill was a previously scheduled event, but Tasnim notes that the joint exercises unfolded against a backdrop of elevated tensions in the region and repeated U.S. threats to attack Iran if it does not accept nuclear demands, among others.