This is the conclusion reached by Western security officials concerned about the ongoing discussions between Moscow and Tehran about deepening their cooperation once the nuclear deal is signed, the report prepared by the American Gatestone Institute, which specializes in Middle East affairs, stated.
He added that with the Russian economy suffering as a result of economic sanctions, Moscow is pressuring Tehran to obtain economic support, such as that Iran pays debts owed to Russia (more than half a billion dollars) in cash, which is owed for Russia’s work in the Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran.
Moscow is also negotiating trade agreements with Tehran, including arms deals, once the agreement is signed.
For its part, Iran says that more than half a billion dollars withheld in the United States as a result of the sanctions, imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump on Tehran, will be released after the signing of the agreement, enabling Tehran to transfer the debts owed to Moscow.
Recent weeks have witnessed active visits by officials between Moscow and Tehran, including the visit of Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji and Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Mohsen Karimi, and at the end of last week the two countries held a major trade conference in Moscow with the attendance of 300 Russian companies and 70 Iranian companies.
50 billion dollars in annual trade
Iranian political analyst Waheed Azeri comments to Sky News Arabia that recent years have witnessed cooperation between Iran and Russia to achieve common goals in the Syria issue, and easing or lifting sanctions will allow Iran to remain strong in the region, which will be reflected on Russia.
With regard to the nuclear file, if an agreement is reached between the negotiating parties (Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Russia, Germany and China), this will benefit Russia as well, according to Azeri, indicating that allowing Iran to trade again will strengthen its trade relations with Moscow.
In this, he pointed out that the volume of trade between Moscow and Tehran is estimated at 40 to 50 billion dollars a year, a large number that constitutes strategic importance for the two countries.
Russia and Iran reached a long-term agreement of 20 years during the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Moscow last January, according to statements by the head of the Iranian-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group, Ibrahim Rezaei.
For this reason, in the latest round of the Vienna negotiations on the nuclear program, Russia stressed the exclusion of Moscow’s economic relationship with Tehran from the sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded “written guarantees” that sanctions against Moscow would not affect Russia’s right to free and full trade, economic, investment and military-technical cooperation with Iran.
On the impact of the Ukrainian war on the Vienna negotiations, the Iranian analyst speculates that if the war goes to the West’s favour, the pressure on Iran will certainly be greater, but if it goes in Russia’s favour, the West’s positions may be more flexible than Iran’s.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Margolev stressed during his meeting on Thursday with Iranian Ambassador Kazem Jalali in Moscow the need to strengthen cooperation regardless of the sanctions imposed on the two countries.
#nuclear #agreement #Iran #give #Moscow #gains