South Africa has launched an investigation into Iran’s participation in joint naval exercises with BRICS nations last week, apparently against the orders of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
BRICS is a group of 10 countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. The acronym BRICS represents the initial letters of the founding members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Recommended stories
4 List of itemsEnd of list
Founded in 2006, the group initially focused on trade, but has since expanded its scope to include security and cultural exchanges.
A week-long joint naval exercise in South African waters concluded on January 16. The drills sparked controversy in the country and angered the United States.
Although South Africa regularly conducts drills with Russia and China, the latest naval drills come amid heightened tensions between the US and several members of the bloc, particularly Iran, which until last week was widely opposed at home. became fatal.
Pretoria said the exercise, dubbed Will for Peace 2026, is essential to ensure maritime security and international cooperation. The exercise “brings together the navies of BRICS plus countries … for joint maritime security operations (and) interoperability drills”, the South African military noted ahead of the exercise.
However, the administration of US President Donald Trump, who has previously accused the BRICS of being “anti-American” and threatened its members with tariffs, has sharply criticized the naval exercises.
Here’s what we know about exercise and why it’s controversial:
What were the drills for?
South Africa hosted BRICS naval exercises from January 9-16, involving warships from participating countries.
China led the exercise near the southwestern coastal town of Simon Town, home to South Africa’s main naval base.
According to China’s Ministry of National Defense, exercises in defense and maritime strike operations as well as technical exchanges were planned. All BRICS countries were invited.
South African Joint Task Force Commander Captain Ndwakhulu Thomas Thamaha said at the opening ceremony that the operation was not just a military exercise but a statement of intent for the BRICS countries to build closer ties with each other.
“This is a demonstration of our collective resolve to work together,” Thamaha said. “In an increasingly complex maritime environment, cooperation like this is not an option. It is a necessity.”
The objective, he said, was to “ensure the security of shipping lanes and maritime economic activities”.
Bantu Holomisa, South Africa’s deputy defense minister, told reporters that the drills were planned ahead of current tensions between BRICS members and the US.
While some BRICS countries may face problems in Washington, Holomisa explained that they are “not our enemies”.
Who participated and how?
China and Iran deployed destroyers to South Africa, while Russia and the United Arab Emirates sent corvettes, traditionally the smallest warships.
The frigate was dispatched by host country South Africa.
Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil participated in the exercise as observers.
India, which is the current president of the group, chose not to participate and distanced itself from the war games.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, “We clarify that the exercise in question was entirely a South African initiative in which some BRICS members participated.”It was not a regular or institutional activity of BRICS, nor did all BRICS members participate in it. India has not participated in such activities in the past.”
Why is South Africa facing US backlash over drills?
The US is furious that South Africa allowed Iran to take part in the drills while accusing Tehran of launching a violent crackdown. Anti-government protests which was spread across the country.
The protests began in late December when shopkeepers in Tehran closed their businesses and protested against the falling value of the rial and inflation. The protests have turned into a major challenge to Iran’s rulers as thousands have taken to the streets across the country for weeks.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a statement on Saturday that security forces cracked down on crowds in some areas, resulting in “several thousands” of deaths. While activists said thousands of protesters were killed, the Iranian government said that was an exaggeration and claimed that police officers and members of the security services made up a significant portion of them. which was killed.
Iranian officials also claimed that the US and Israel had armed and financed “terrorists” to fuel the protests. He said agents of foreign powers, not state forces, were responsible for the deaths of civilians, including protesters.
The popular uprising is the most disruptive the country has seen since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Thousands of people are believed to have been detained.
Ahead of the BRICS exercises, the US warned South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that Iran’s involvement would have a negative impact on South Africa, South Africa’s Daily Maverick newspaper reported.
Ramaphosa then ordered Iran to withdraw from the exercise on January 9, the paper said.
However, three Iranian ships already stationed in South Africa continued to participate.
In a statement on January 15, the US Embassy in South Africa accused the South African military of violating orders from its own government and saying it was “cooperating with Iran”.
“It is particularly unconscionable that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces as they were shooting, imprisoning and torturing Iranian citizens engaged in peaceful political action South Africa had fought so hard to secure,” the statement said.
“South Africa cannot lecture the world on ‘justice’ while befriending Iran.”
South African political analyst Reneva Fourie said Washington was only fishing for reasons to criticize South Africa for filing a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice over the war in Gaza.
“America is looking for an entry point,” she said.
The US “faces violations of freedom of expression and association, democracy and human rights, as well as increasing militarization. The US should focus on its own dire situation rather than meddling in the affairs of others.”
Tensions over military exercises are the only point of contention between the US and Iran.
Washington sided with Israel in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last year, and on June 22, the US bombed three nuclear sites in Iran. A preliminary assessment by US officials indicated that all three were seriously damaged. Iran responded by bombing a military base in Qatar where US troops are stationed, in what was largely seen as a face-saving exercise.
Which other BRICS members have tensions with the US?
Almost all BRICS members have problems with the current US government.
Apart from the controversy over Iran joining the naval drills, South Africa is also embroiled in a battle of narratives with the Trump administration, which alleges that the country’s minority white population is being oppressed without any evidence.GenocideIn 2025 Trump a Refugee Program For white Africans wanting to “escape” to America.
The US has condemned South Africa’s decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice in December 2023.
The US currently imposes tariffs of up to 40 percent on South African exports.
China has been in a tense trade war with the US for over a year. After slapping each other with more than 100 percent tariffs early last year, the pending trade talks were put on hold. But China has since imposed restrictions on exports of rare earth metals needed for key defense technologies, and Trump has again threatened further tariff hikes before the two sides can reach a deal. Agreement In late October, China agreed to “pause” restrictions on exports of certain metals.
Russia is also on Washington’s radar because of the war in Ukraine.
Just three days before the drills began, the US seized a Russian oil tanker belonging to Venezuela in the North Atlantic due to sanctions on both countries.
On January 3, the US military Abduction Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, from the capital Caracas. Both now face drug and weapons charges in federal court in New York. In September, the US launched a campaign of airstrikes against Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean, claiming they were smuggling drugs to the US but providing no evidence.
India has been hit by a 50 percent tariff on its exports to the US punishment For continuing to buy Russian oil.
This month, the US withdrew from the India-led International Solar Alliance, though it was part of a wider move to pull the US out of several international bodies.
Harsh V Pant, a geopolitical analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank, told Al Jazeera that for India, staying away from naval exercises is “about balancing relations with the US”.
Pant added that, according to India, “war games” were never part of the BRICS mandate.
BRICS was founded as an economic bloc, but has expanded its mandate to include security.
What was the response in South Africa?
Ramaphosa’s government has faced some backlash over the drills at home.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), a former opposition party that is now part of the governing coalition and largely represents the interests of the white minority, blamed Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola for failing to hold the Defense Ministry accountable.
Lamola belongs to the African National Congress (ANC) party, which ruled South Africa alone until 2024.
“By allowing the Department of Defense to proceed unchecked with these military exercises, Minister Lamola has effectively outsourced South Africa’s foreign policy to the whims of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) and exposed the country to serious diplomatic and economic risk,” the DA said in a statement two days after the exercise began.
“South Africa is now recognized not as a principled non-aligned state, but as a willing host for military cooperation with authoritarian regimes.”
What is the South African government saying now?
South African officials have shifted from initially justifying the drills to distancing themselves from the Iranian debacle.
Despite initial statements by officials that the drills would go ahead as planned, Ramaphosa eventually appeared to bow to US pressure and ordered the exclusion of Iran on January 9, local media reported.
However, neither the South African Ministry of Defense nor the military seem to have followed those instructions.
In a statement on 16 January, Defense Minister Angie Motshekga’s office said Ramaphosa’s instructions had been “clearly communicated, agreed upon and complied with by all parties concerned”.
The statement said the minister has set up a board of inquiry “to look into the circumstances surrounding the allegations and establish whether the President’s instructions have been misrepresented and/or ignored as issued”.
An investigation report is expected on Friday.
This is not the first time South Africa has been criticized for its military ties with Iran.
In August, his military chief, General Rudzani Mafwanya, drew ire from the DA when he traveled to Tehran and confirmed that South Africa and Iran had “common goals”.
His statement comes a few weeks after the Iran-Israel war. He also criticized Israel while in Tehran.
Some ANC critics called for Mafwana’s firing, but he remains in office.