For the first time in naval history, Chinese warships docked at Iran's main naval port on the Persian Gulf on Sunday, in what Iranian officials say was the start of four days of joint exercises with Iran's navy, and what China describes as just a "friendly visit."

An Iranian admiral told state television on Sunday that the Chinese ships, assigned to a fleet assisting in the multinational campaign against pirates near the coast of Somalia, will take part in naval drills that will focus on safety at sea and the fight against piracy.

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"Discussing and studying the two countries' naval relief and rescue operations and drills, confronting sea incidents and accidents and gaining the necessary technical preparedness are among the exercises to be practiced with the Chinese Navy forces," Admiral Amir Hossein Azad, commander of Iran's First Naval Zone, announced.

Azad did not give details as to the location and extent of the naval exercises, but Iranian media reported the exercises were scheduled to begin on Monday.

China's official news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday that the Chinese PLA Navy ships stopped at the Iranian Iranian port at Bandar Abbas on Saturday for a "friendly visit." The ships were given a military welcome, where staff from the Chinese embassy in Tehran were present as well as a group of Chinese businessmen.

One of the vessels was the Changchun, a guided-missile destroyer commissioned into the Chinese navy early in 2013, the report said. China's central people's government website also showed photos of the guided-missile destroyer as it entered the Iranian naval port, showing Iranian navy officers lined up on the dock.

The official Chinese reports did not mention any joint naval exercises, only saying that the "two officers (possibly referring to the Chinese fleet commander and the commander of Iran's first naval zone) will also carry soccer, table tennis, tug of war and a series of cultural and sports activities."

On the Chinese Navy website, a  Chinese fleet commander identified as Rear Adm. Huang Xinjian, said the visit was intended to "deepen mutual understanding, and to enhance exchanges between our two countries' navies."

Iran's state newspaper reported on Saturday that the Chinese warships had 650 sailors on board who will also compete in sports activities with Iranian navy personnel.

China has most recently joined the anti-piracy campaign on the Gulf of Aden, sending its two most advanced guided missile destroyers into the area in 2009 with the purpose of escorting commercial shipping as they pass through unsafe waters.

In the Persian Gulf, Iran's major competitor would be the U.S. Navy which has a naval base in Bahrain and stations at least one aircraft carrier in the Gulf. On several occasions, the U.S. had been on alert as Iran threatened to choke of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway between Iran and the United Arab Emirates that serves as the passageway for oil and gas shipments out of the Gulf.

In analysing the fresh China-Iran naval relations, Iranian economist Saeed Laylaz says this would only show that China is quite concerned how negotiations between the West and Iran on the latter's nuclear program could impact its business ventures in Iran. The negotiations reach a crucial point this week in the U.S.

Laylaz said the Chinese intentions may be more related to business than to being ready to defend Iran.

TagsPeople's Liberation Army Navy, Iran