The series military drills  of Russian joined by Communist China and Iran will take place in autumn.

Russia, Iran and China will hold joint maritime exercises in the Persian Gulf around late 2021 or early 2022, Russia’s ambassador to Tehran said, news agencies, including Farda radio, reported on Monday.

The drills involving naval vessels from the three countries will be focused on shipping security and combating piracy, the envoy was cited as saying.

The Russia-led CSTO security bloc will hold exercises involving its rapid deployment forces in Kyrgyzstan on September 1-9, the Russian news news agency cited Kyrgyzstan’s foreign ministry as saying on Monday.

The drills are set to take place after the U.S. exit of troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s lightning takeover there have created a security headache for Russia in the region.