Russia – Iran: Allies out of necessity “baptize” the West as a common enemy

of Athena Papakosta

Russia and Iran, two countries whose relationship has been dominated by tension (undermining and not), decide to join forces on the occasion of the war in Ukraine to face what they call a common enemy, the West. The emergence of this alliance brings, however, international…complications.

Russia is the latest pariah country in the international community, writes the New York Times, and Iran was for decades the world’s most strategically isolated nation.

Both countries are facing crises. On the one hand Moscow is engaged in a struggle of endurance and a war of nerves to afford itself after the imposition of Western sanctions and the ongoing costly war in Ukraine. On the other hand, Tehran is faced with its internal boiling as its streets are filled with citizens defending their freedoms.

Russia and Iran are connected not by love but by necessity. Throughout time the interests of these two countries in the Middle East have been inconsistent. In the matter of Syria, however, they allied with the aim of Bashar al-Assad’s survival.

And today, as Moscow tightens its energy ties with Saudi Arabia, the country with which Tehran shares decades of hatred is rallying again, using their shared past in Syria as an example.

On July 19, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Tehran. It was his first visit outside the borders of the former Soviet Union since Russia invaded Ukraine.

“If you had not taken the initiative in Ukraine, the other side would have started a war,” said Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, welcoming the Russian president to Iran and Moscow’s effort to forge closer ties with Tehran.

The two sides announced initiatives to strengthen their economic cooperation and now seem to be taking advantage of their unfavorable position on the world stage to build a new worldview.

They find common ground in terms of energy, oil and gas, while intelligence reports also speak of strengthening their military cooperation.

Russia, which now only has a past with the West, sees its future in the East, and Iran, which has always looked neither to the West nor to the East, seems now to be choosing sides.

Western analysts judging that Moscow could only get weapons from one country, North Korea, conclude that it preferred to turn to Iran.

Already for a month now, Kyiv has been complaining again and again that the Russian armed forces are striking Ukraine with Iran’s noisy Shahed-136s. Tehran denies this and the Kremlin now says it has no information on whether or not Iranian kamikaze drones were used in the attacks.

But the deck in the Middle East is already being shuffled.

So far, Tehran’s nemesis Saudi Arabia has not reacted to the Kremlin’s new… relationship despite recently joining forces with Moscow in favor of a decision to cut oil production by two million barrels daily.

The “case” of Israel is also examined with interest, a country which, although it is one of the closest allies of the United States, remains neutral in the war between Russia and Ukraine as it maintains a relationship with Moscow based (also) on security issues. Last Sunday, the country’s Diaspora Minister reacted to reports that Moscow has procured Iranian-made drones and called on the Israeli government to provide military assistance to Kyiv.

The Israeli prime minister’s office had no comment. However, the vice-chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, managed to fire warning shots that Israel should not arm Ukraine.

“It will destroy all interstate relations between our countries,” he characteristically wrote on Telegram.

Vladimir Putin’s new geopolitical game of survival has already begun and the West is on high alert.

A representative of the State Department emphasized that the deepening of relations between Russia and Iran should be seen as a significant threat and every country should be aware of it.

Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.