With the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia needs new sources of revenues quickly. Now, Moscow thinks they found a new one in Iran.
Russia keeps strengthening relations with Asian countries. After the phone call with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russia has now struck new deals with Iran, TASS reported.
Russia and Iran have improved relationships massively since the war in Ukraine started. In fact, the conflict strengthened all the world’s alliances already in existence. While NATO and the West renewed their alliances, albeit with some difficulties, Russia forged definitive ties with many Asian peers.
North Korea, for example, has started selling weapons to Russia and, more specifically, to the mercenary Wagner group. Turkey, on the other hand, expanded energy plans with Moscow in the hope of becoming a new European gas hub.
China too has looked at the war in Ukraine very closely, trying to get the best possible outcome for themselves. Though never supporting the invasion directly, China has also never joined sanctions against Russia. Indeed, China can now buy Russian oil and gas for a bargain, and Moscow must rely on the Dragon for their future revenues.
However, China’s position has always been ambiguous. It seems that their goal is to make Russia an energy “vassal state” rather than a direct ally. It’s hard to say if Xi Jinping, Chinese president, trusts his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
For this reason, the most important ally Russia managed to get is Iran.
The five-year plan
Iran is a pariah state in the Middle East. Much like Russia, it is plagued by isolationism and economic sanctions by the West. This, of course, brough Teheran closer to enemies of the West, outright supporting Russia in its invasion.
Russia has used Iranian made drones in their bombings of civilian infrastructures back in October. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia has only used half of their available drones, with many more to come.
On Tuesday, the TASS agency reported that Iran and Russia plan on expanding their relations in the following years. The two countries signed a five-year development plan in 2022 which was confirmed in a diplomatic summit in Tehran.
“Relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia are of great importance in the light of various circumstances, including the fact that both our countries have access to the Caspian Sea and [based on] our common interests in the region and our international cooperation,” said the Iranian Parliament speaker.
Most importantly, the two countries discussed further energy ties. Like it was the case with Turkey, Russia is trying to sell their massive fossil fuel disposal to new markets.
Iran, being completely isolated from the industrialized West, found a pot of gold. The plan includes the creation of infrastructures between the two countries, including pipelines and railroads.
All of this will take time however, time that Russia needs like daily bread. Without the European market, how are they going to pay for the war?
