Between Russia and Iran, 40 billion energy agreements: we will beat NATO and sanctions
Russian President Vladimir Putin used his first trip out of the former Soviet Union since he launched the so-called “special operation” in Ukraine on February 24 to hold talks in Tehran with the Supreme Guide, Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, and the Turkish leader, Tayyip Recep Erdogan, thus reiterating the message that Moscow is not isolated despite the open confrontation with the West.
In Tehran, Putin certified the “steps forward” made thanks to the mediation of Ankara to unblock the export of Ukrainian wheat from the Black Sea ports and with the leadership of the Islamic Republic, on the other hand, it has exhibited ever closer ties to American pressure, shared by both countries. “Politicians have already defined Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tehran as ‘historic’. After all, Iran can become a strategic partner of Moscow, ”warned KP. As the Press explains, an anti-West and anti-NATO axis has been welded between Russia and Iran, with a strong no to sanctions.
Putin’s trip, a few days after the visit of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to Israel and Saudi Arabia, sends a strong message to the West about the Kremlin’s plans to forge closer strategic ties with Iran, China and India to face Western sanctioning policy. “Contact with Khamenei is very important”, explained Yuri Ushakov, diplomatic adviser to the Kremlin before the visit, “on most issues, our positions are close or identical”.
Moscow and Tehran signed, in the context of Putin’s mission, several agreements in the field of military-technical cooperation, agriculture, nuclear energy, the IT sector, space and security. From the Kremlin they made it known that it was not never raised the issue of the supply of Iranian drones to Moscowon which the Pentagon had warned in recent days.
A considerable part of the work with the Islamic Republic had been carried out while the presidential IL-96 was still in flight: for this reason, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksander Novak and Ushakov had already flown to Tehran yesterday. “Putin does not travel abroad with generic promises and declarations of dialogue”, wrote KP, “but there are always concrete agreements”. For his part, Khamenei called for long-term cooperation between Iran and Russia, telling Putin that the two countries must remain “vigilant against Western deception”.
According to the Supreme Leader, the leader of Moscow has assured that he will “maintain his independence” from the United States and has called for their respective national currencies to be used in their trade. “The dollar must be phased out of global trade,” Khamenei said. The Iranian mission was, however, officially motivated byl trilateral between Putin, Erdogan and Raisi in the Astana format on Syria. The three presidents evaluated efforts to reduce violence in Syria, where Ankara has ordered the launch of a military operation to extend the range of the ‘safe zones’ along the northern border of the country, which both Moscow and Tehran oppose. .
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“Maintaining Syria’s territorial integrity is very important and any military attack in Northern Syria will certainly damage Turkey, Syria and the entire region and benefit the terrorists,” Khamenei told Erdogan before the trilateral. “We reaffirm the commitment to strengthen trilateral cooperation between Russia, Iran and Turkey in the interest of achieving a sustainable normalization of the situation in Syria”; reads in the final joint declaration.
In the most anticipated meeting, Putin’s face to face with Erdogan – the first bilateral of the Russian president with the leader of a NATO country since February 24 – the two leaders focused on the plan to restart Ukrainian wheat exports, unlocking vital supplies to feed millions of people especially in Africa and the Middle East. Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are expected to sign an agreement later this week aimed at resuming the transport of grain from Ukraine across the Black Sea, but no new details have emerged from Tehran.
“Not all issues regarding the export of Ukrainian wheat from the Black Sea ports have been resolved yet, but the fact that there is movement is already positive”Putin said, thanking Erdogan for “the progress” made. “In the last meeting in Istanbul (last week) the approach of the Russian delegation was absolutely positive. I hope our meeting will bear fruit”, said Erdogan on his part. The two leaders last met in Sochi in late September 2021.
In the West, Moscow has achieved de facto pariah status after the operation in Ukraine, but the Kremlin is eager to show that international sanctions have failed to isolate the largest country in the world and that some of its friends have remained by its side.
But that of Moscow with Tehran and Ankara is anything but a friendship with solid prospects: Turkey and Russia are deployed on opposite fronts in Syria and Libya; they are competing for influence in the South Caucasus, and Turkish combat drones are supplied to the Kiev army. As for the‘Iran competes with Russia in global energy markets and often, not too covertly, in Tehran they complained about Moscow’s lack of cooperation in the successful completion of the Vienna negotiations on the restoration of the nuclear deal.
Russia, Turkey and Iran have some common interests, but according to many analysts they are still not a solid basis for a lasting alliance. The White House did not hesitate to comment that Putin’s trip to Irina demonstrates “how isolated Russia is”.
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