The United States is making its anger known to longtime but strained ally South Africa, charging the country's defense ministry of ignoring directives from its own government to send Iranian warships home after they took part in naval exercises in South African waters.

Washington's statement held nothing back: "South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘justice’ while cozying up to Iran," the US embassy in South Africa posted on Facebook. Islamic Republic warships have been docked in Cape Town for some days now. "Iran is a destabilizing actor and state sponsor of terror, and its inclusion in joint exercises - in any capacity - undermines maritime security and regional stability," the US statement said.

"It is particularly unconscionable that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces as they were shooting, jailing, and torturing Iranian citizens engaging in peaceful political activity South Africans fought so hard to gain for themselves," it continued.

While the protests and riots have largely died down, and it should be noted that much of the activity in the streets especially in the latter days of the unrest was not entirely 'peaceful' - the potential for some kind of looming military action is still there. US military assets are en route to the Middle East region, after much of the naval strike group has been built up for months in the southern Caribbean. 

South Africa’s defense ministry in turn rejected the accusation and said it had opened an investigation to determine the facts behind what it called "serious allegations".

Ironically the weeklong naval exercise South Africa has been hosting is dubbed the "Will for Peace 2026". It has widely been described as a BRICS and "BRICS+" naval drill and chiefly involves Russian, Chinese, and Iranian warships.

The drill had long been in planning and the date set, significantly before the flare-up of two weeks of economic-driven protests in the Islamic Republic.

But in light of the controversy, the South African government did apparently succumb to pressure from Western allies to send Iranian military assets home.

On Friday, the office of Defense Minister Angie Motshekga underscored she "would like to place it on record" that President Cyril Ramaphosa's instructions for the Iranians do depart immediately had been "clearly communicated to all parties concerned, agreed upon and to be implemented and adhered to as such."

But this wasn't fast enough, and the US Embassy is outraged, with its diplomats getting to literally view Iranian warships parked and prominently displayed off South Africa's main capital city.

However, some reports have said that the Iranian warships had already docked in Cape Town by the time the order instructing them to turn back was issued - but again, it also seems they are in no hurry to leave, perhaps trolling the US.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone calls Friday with the leaders of Iran and Israel, marking his first public response to the Iran crisis, and amid US threats for intervention.

The Kremlin said Putin spoke by phone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as part of what it described as his "continued efforts" to de-escalate tensions.

"This is assistance not only to Iran, but to the entire region, as well as to the cause of regional stability and peace," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing.