UK Cmdr.: Unified Trident Drill Not Against Iran

The multilateral exercise Unified Trident began on Tuesday in the Persian Gulf amid rising tensions between the US and Iran.

“Despite the setting, Unified Trident has nothing to do with Iran,” said the exercise planner, Royal Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ant Wallace, who spoke to the media, American military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported.

“It’s not a show of force to the Iranians at all,” Wallace said. “The reason we are doing this exercise, and I’ll stress this over and over again, is because it’s easier to do here than it would be anywhere else. It’s a key opportunity to bring ships together, to exercise together and to operate together. The fact that it’s in the [Persian] Gulf is coincidental, really.”

Unified Trident involves the British Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, French Marine Nationale and US Naval Forces Central Command. 

The combined taskforce is led by British Royal Navy Commodore Andrew Burns.