Why is South Africa upset about Iran joining BRICS naval drills?

Last week, South Africa reportedly launched an investigation into Iran’s participation in joint naval exercises with BRICS nations against President Cyril Ramaphosa’s orders.

BRICS is a group of 10 countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa were the first nations to use the acronym BRICS.

The group, formed in 2006, initially focused on trade, but has since expanded its mandate to include security and cultural exchanges.

On January 16, a week of joint naval drills in South African waters came to an end. The drills have caused controversy in the country and drawn the ire of the United States.

The most recent maritime training comes as the US and many of the group’s members are at increased odds, particularly Iran, which up until last week was grappling with widespread, deadly protests at home. Although South Africa regularly conducts drills with Russia and China.

Pretoria said the exercise, named Will for Peace 2026, was essential for ensuring maritime safety and international cooperation. The South African military’s statement reads before the exercises that “brings together navies from BRICS Plus countries for joint maritime safety operations]and] interoperability drills.”

However, US President Donald Trump’s administration, which has previously accused BRICS of being “anti-American” and has threatened its members with tariffs, has strongly criticised the naval exercises.

What we know about the exercises and why they were contentious:

What were the drills for?

On January 9 through 16th, South Africa hosted the BRICS naval exercise, which included warships from participating nations.

China led the training, which took place near the southwestern coastal city of Simon’s Town, which is home to a major South African naval base.

According to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, technical exchanges and exercises in rescue, maritime strike, and other activities were planned. All BRICS countries were invited.

At the opening ceremony, South Africa’s joint task force commander, Captain Nndwakhulu Thomas Thamaha, stated that the operation was a declaration of intent by the BRICS nations to form closer alliances with one another.

“It is a demonstration of our collective resolve to work together”, Thamaha said. Cooperation like this is not a viable option in an increasingly complex maritime environment. It is essential”.

He claimed that the goal was to “assure the safety of shipping lanes and maritime economic activities.”

South African Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa told journalists that the drills had been planned before the current tensions between some BRICS members and the US.

Holomisa stated that some BRICS nations “are not our enemies,” even though some might have issues with Washington.

How and by whom did it happen?

China and Iran deployed destroyer warships to South Africa, while Russia and the United Arab Emirates sent corvettes, traditionally the smallest warships.

The host nation, South Africa, sent a frigate.

Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil joined the exercises as observers.

The group’s current chair, India, opted not to participate and distanced itself from the war games.

“We clarify that the exercise in question was entirely a South African initiative in which some BRICS members took part”, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. “Neither all BRICS members nor a regular BRICS activity nor did they participate in it. India has not participated in previous such activities”.

Why are the drills causing US criticism in South Africa?

The US is angry that South Africa allowed Iran to participate in the drills at a time when Tehran was accused of launching a violent crackdown on antigovernment protests that had spread across the country.

In late December, shopkeepers in Tehran staged protests against inflation and the waning rial, and the protests broke out. These protests swelled into a broader challenge to Iran’s rulers, as thousands of people took to the streets nationwide to demonstrate over a few weeks.

According to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s statement on Saturday, security forces in some areas retaliated against the crowds, killing “several thousands.” While activists said thousands of protesters were killed, the Iranian government said this was an exaggeration and claimed police officers and security service members formed a significant chunk of those&nbsp, who were killed.

The Iranian government also claimed that “terrorists” were funded and armed by the US and Israel to stoke the protests. They said agents affiliated with foreign powers, and not state forces, were responsible for the deaths of civilians, including protesters.

The country’s largest uprising has been since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which was one of the most disruptive. Tens of thousands of people are believed to have been arrested.

According to a report from the South African newspaper Daily Maverick, the US warned South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that Iran’s participation would have a negative impact on his nation before the BRICS drills.

Ramaphosa subsequently ordered Iran to withdraw from the exercises on January 9, the paper reported.

Three Iranian vessels that had already been stationed in South Africa were all still present.

In a statement on January 15, the US embassy in South Africa accused the South African military of defying orders from its own government and said it was “cozying up to Iran”.

It is particularly unjustifiable that Iranian security forces were applauded for their peaceful political activism, which South Africans had waged for themselves by shooting, injuring, and torturing, according to the statement.

“South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘ justice ‘ while cozying up to Iran”.

Washington was merely looking for reasons to criticize South Africa for bringing a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice for its conflict in Gaza, according to political analyst Reneva Fourie.

“The US is looking for an entry point”, she said.

The US is “affected by more militarisation, increased militarisation, and increased infringements on freedom of expression and association.” The US should focus on its own dire state instead of meddling in the affairs of others”.

The US and Iran’s most recent points of disagreement are merely the military drills’ latest source of conflict.

During the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in 2025, Washington sided with Israel, and on June 22, the US bombed three nuclear sites in Iran. All three had been severely damaged, according to initial assessments from US officials. Iran retaliated by bombing a military base in Qatar where US troops are positioned, in what was largely seen as a face-saving exercise.

Which other BRICS nations are at odds with the US?

Nearly all members of BRICS have problems with the current US government.

South Africa is engaged in a conflict of narratives with the Trump administration, which claims that the country’s minority white population is being systematically subjected to a “genocide.” In 2025, Trump established a refugee programme for white Afrikaners wishing to “flee” to the US.

In December 2023, the US has also condemned South Africa’s decision to bring Israel before the International Court of Justice.

The US currently levies tariffs on South African exports of up to 40 percent as a result.

China and the US have engaged in a contentious trade dispute for more than a year. After slapping each other with tariffs exceeding 100 percent early last year, these were suspended pending trade talks. Before the two sides reached an agreement in late October, under which China agreed to “pause” restrictions on the export of some metals, Trump threatened to impose more tariffs on some of its rare earth metals, which are needed for technology crucial for defense.

Russia is also on Washington’s radar because of its war in Ukraine.

Due to US sanctions against both nations, the US seized a Venezuela-linked Russian oil tanker in the North Atlantic just three days before the drills began.

On January 3, the US military abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from the capital, Caracas. In a federal court in New York City, both defendants are currently facing drug and weapons charges. In September, the US had begun a campaign of air strikes on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean, claiming they were trafficking drugs to the US, but providing no evidence.

India’s exports to the US have received 50% tariffs, partly as retaliation for keeping its oil from Russia.

This month, the US withdrew from the India-led International Solar Alliance, although this withdrawal was part of a broader move to pull the US out of several international bodies.

For India, avoiding the naval drills was “about balancing ties with the US,” according to Harsh V. Pant, a geopolitical analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank.

Pant added that in India’s opinion, “war games” were never part of the BRICS mandate.

Despite being an economic bloc, the BRICS now has a stronger mandate that includes security.

What has South Africa’s response been?

Ramaphosa’s government has also faced some backlash over the drills at home.

Former opposition party that now makes up the ruling coalition and largely supports the white minority, the Democratic Alliance (DA) criticized Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola for failing to hold the Department of Defense accountable.

Lamola is from the African National Congress (ANC) party, which, until 2024, governed South Africa alone.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has effectively outsourced South Africa’s foreign policy, according to the DA in a statement two days after the exercises began, allowing the Department of Defense to proceed unchecked in these military exercises, which exposes the nation to serious diplomatic and economic risk.

“South Africa is now perceived not as a principled non-aligned state, but as a willing host for military cooperation with authoritarian regimes”.

What is the current position of the South African government?

South African officials have shifted from initially justifying the drills to distancing themselves from the Iran debacle.

Ramaphosa eventually appeared to bow to US pressure and ordered Iran to be excluded on January 9, according to local media reports from the initial statements from officials that the drills would proceed as planned.

Those instructions do not seem to have been followed by the South African Defence Department or the military, however.

Ramaphosa’s instructions were “clearly communicated to all parties involved, agreed upon, and adhered to as such,” according to Defence Minister Angie Motshekga’s office in a statement released on January 16.

The statement went on to say that the minister had established an inquiry board “to look into the circumstances surrounding the allegations and establish whether the instruction of the President may have been misrepresented and/or ignored as issued to all”.

Friday is expected for a report on the investigation.

This is not the first time South Africa has been criticised for its military relations with Iran.

General Rudzani Maphwanya, the country’s military chief, declared that South Africa and Iran share “common goals” in August, provoking the DA to express his anger.

His statement came just weeks after the Iran-Israel war. While in Tehran, he reportedly had a negative opinion of Israel.

Source: Aljazeera