Last year, Russia and Iran failed to come to an agreement on a joint Russian/Iranian nuclear project.
Iran loses Russian backing after rejecting nuclear deal
By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
Published: 13 March 2006
Iran has lost crucial support from its powerful ally Russia after the Iranian foreign ministry said Tehran is no longer considering a Russian compromise aimed at resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear threat.
A foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, flatly told reporters in Tehran that “the Russian proposal is not on our agenda any more”.
Russia’s offer of a joint venture to enrich uranium outside Iran had been seen as Iran’s last chance to avoid UN Security Council action.
But suddenly, these two parties have become much more cozy.
Russia-Iran nuclear deal signed
Russia and Iran have signed an agreement for Moscow to supply fuel to Iran’s new nuclear reactor in Bushehr.
“Why the sudden change,” you ask? Here’s my guess.
PARIS 26 Aug (IPS) The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are to ink a new, wide range military pact “in near future”, according to a high ranking Russian official.
…
Iranian Defense Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani told the Majles (parliament) on 21 August that his ministry will push ahead with its plans to develop a “defensive” military force for the country to act as a “deterrent” to regional and international threats.He said the ministry was also seeking “to acquire arms with effective deterrent capabilities,” upgrade the hardware in its aeronautics industries as well as produce military equipment with high range, precision and destruction.
But informed Russian and Iranian sources and experts said Iran’s needs in modern arms concerns mostly at modernising its Air Force and Navy, the country being self-sufficient in land-based arms, including rockets and missiles.
Russia sells weapons to Iran. Russia knows that if Iran gets its nuclear program running full steam, they will be seen as a threat.
But there is a problem. Syria buys its weapons from Russia, too. And Israel showed just how well some of those weapons perform against Western technology.
Israel Struck Syrian Nuclear Project, Analysts Say
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 — Israel’s air attack on Syria last month was directed against a site that Israeli and American intelligence analysts judged was a partly constructed nuclear reactor, apparently modeled on one North Korea has used to create its stockpile of nuclear weapons fuel, according to American and foreign officials with access to the intelligence reports.
Ouch. That can’t be good for business.
My guess is that it won’t be long before Russia is volunteering some troops to help “protect” Iran from the inevitible Western invasion. And Iran will take them.
Iran has a rich history of inviting foreign powers to use it as a pawn against other foreign powers. Iran was partitioned by the Russians and British during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as the 3 nations played a game of Yojimbo, with Iran putting itself in the middle. However, once the foreign powers had come in they didn’t want to leave, and the game was played until the end of WWII.
It seems Russia and Iran are playing this same game again. And Iran is still the willing pawn.
