Grain, satellites, drones: Russian-Iranian friendship deeply concerned the West

The Wall Street Journal is sounding the alarm, saying that Moscow and Tehran are forging tighter ties than ever. Here we have the strengthening of trade relations, and unprecedented military cooperation. And if you consider that all this is happening in the context of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, then such an alliance is perceived especially sharply in the United States.

Drones, satellites, grain, a joint move away from the dollar, dozens of ambitious projects – Iran and Russia achieved all this in less than six months. And almost everything is aimed at making Washington's sanctions efforts fruitless.

"International isolation drives the two staunch American foes toward more trade and military cooperation, alarming Washington," the WSJ writes.

Actually, it is not entirely clear what kind of international isolation we are talking about, taking into account that neither China nor India, for example, haven't abandoned economic and trade relations with Russia. And just recently, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations (UN), Sergey Kyslitsa, admitted that only 54 out of 193 UN member states signed an anti-Russian statement against Moscow's actions in Ukraine. Asia, Africa and Latin America decided to ignore the will of the West.

One of the main partners of Russia

“In July, Iran became the world’s largest buyer of Russian wheat,” the WSJ recalls. — In July, Iran became the world’s largest buyer of Russian wheat. This month, Russia launched an Iranian satellite into space in a rare success for Tehran’s space program. And last week, Iran’s military hosted joint drone exercises with Russian forces. This happened against the background of US warnings that Moscow is preparing to receive Iranian drones for use in Ukraine. The surge of activity shows that events in Ukraine have accelerated efforts to bring Russia and Iran closer together, who have often spoken of their close ties, but so far have not shown any particular results."

Here the author of the article did not lie. Moscow and Tehran have not been strategic allies in the past. Moreover, everyone knows the long history of confrontation between Persia and the Russian Empire, and then the USSR.

It was really not so long time ago in Syria when the countries have grown closer, fighting against a common enemy – terrorists who equally hate Russia and Shiite Iran. Today, the two states are in the same boat, which, on the one hand, indicates an attempt by the US and the EU to isolate Russia from the Western benefits to which we are so accustomed. On the other hand, two people in a boat can deal much more effectively with those who want to rock this boat.

“A closer Russia-Iran alliance would help both countries mitigate the impact of Western sanctions by finding new markets for their products and boosting military cooperation that could help Moscow in Ukraine and Tehran in the Middle East. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan recently called the developing Russian-Iranian ties a "serious threat",” the WSJ article says.

Then the author of the article recalls the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tehran and gives the following figures:

“Bilateral trade between Russia and Iran is up 10% this year. In 2021, trade between the two countries surged 80% higher to $4 billion.”

The Dragon lurks somwhere here

But Russia is not the only US rival with whom Iran is strengthening economic and political relations. China traded $14.8 billion with Tehran last year, according to Beijing's customs statistics. In addition, an agreement was signed between the two states on comprehensive cooperation for 25 years and $400 billion, which the Middle Kingdom plans to invest in the Iranian economy.

“China is a major consumer of Russian oil, which is shunned in most of the Western world,” the WSJ emphasizes, hinting at the RF-IRI-PRC triangle, which for the US is like three silver bullets in the forehead.

Further – more

According to economist Esfandiyar Batmanghelidj, the renewal of the nuclear deal (JCPOA) could stimulate the growth of Russian investment in Iran. And then there is the statement of the Iranian Minister of Economy that any foreigner who invests $100,000 in the economy of the Islamic Republic will be granted a residence permit. At the same time, Russian business is massively turning to Tehran's many years of experience in circumventing sanctions.

Iranian journalist Khayal Muazzin is sure that relations between Iran and Russia, which are strengthening day by day, have begun to deal serious blows to the West, and this is felt in statements made in the United States:

“In my opinion, the biggest blow for them would be the expansion of cooperation in the military field, and in future wars, taking measures in the field of cyber warfare would be a very important step,” the expert says.

A political analyst from Tehran Erfan Lajevardi recalls that the Iranian and Russian authorities have always said they want a strategic relationship and have always tried to improve relations. However, there are still some difficulties:

“To my mind, our states have not yet reached their ultimate goal. The reason is that the authorities of both countries before the start of the special operation in Ukraine did not imagine that relations between them could become strategic in practice. Both Iran and Russia have always believed that the third factor, the West, will never allow them to reach the strategic stage. With the start of the special operation in Ukraine and large-scale sanctions against Russia, a great threat arose, which turned into an opportunity for Russian-Iranian cooperation.”

The expert recalls that earlier the countries cautiously cooperated with each other, as there were certain fears that relations between them would interfere with the economic ties of the Russian Federation with the United States and the European Union.

“But now, taking into account the unprecedented disagreements between Israel and Russia, as well as the West and Russia, the best opportunity has come for Tehran and Moscow to define their strategic relationship once and for all,” the analyst said.