US slams ‘deepening alliance’ between Russia and Iran

Russia’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine is the top national security issue for both the US and its European allies. It echoes Hitler’s annexation of the Sudetenland on the eve of World War II.
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday met Russia's Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev in Tehran, as seen in this picture provided by the Iranian presidential office.
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday met Russia's Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev in Tehran, as seen in this picture provided by the Iranian presidential office.

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan24) - Late on Tuesday, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, arrived in Tehran. The following day, he met with Iranian President Ebrahim al-Raisi, as well as his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani.

Asked on Thursday about Patrushev’s visit to Iran, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told journalists that the growing relationship between Russia and Iran represented a serious danger.

“This is a deepening alliance,” Price said, “that the entire world should view as a profound threat.”

The New York Times suggested that Patrushev’s visit was part of a Russian effort to acquire ballistic missiles from Iran. It cited Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence directorate, who suggested that Iran could deliver such missiles to Russia by the end of the month.

“It’s a serious threat because Iranian missiles, unlike Russian ones, are quite high precision, very high speed, and those features have been battle proven,” Budanov recently told an on-line journal, The War Zone.

The US is working at the United Nations, Price explained on Thursday, “to address the threats that are posed by Russia and Iran separately” as well as through their bilateral activities, “including Iran’s dangerous proliferation of weapons systems to Russia.”

Similarly, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who recently returned from a visit to Ukraine, explained to journalists on Thursday that he had seen Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his senior advisors, and they had asked for “increased air defense,” which the US will supply, to better enable them to defend against Russian cruise missiles and the “Iranian-made drones” used by Russian troops “to attack critical civilian infrastructure.”

Detailing Iran’s military support for Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia has used over 300 Iranian drones in recent weeks to target “military units, power plants and civilian buildings.”

In addition, US officials say that Iran has sent Revolutionary Guard advisers to Crimea to help Russian forces use Iranian weapons.

“The relationship between Iran and Russia is evolving from a mostly transactional, military partnership,” the Journal said, “to a more ideologically rooted and anti-Western alliance.”

The Journal noted how senior officials in both countries claim that US dominance in international politics is coming to an end and it is giving way to a new multipolar world order.

End of JCPOA: New Policies in US and Europe

Russia’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine is the top national security issue for both the US and its European allies. It echoes Hitler’s annexation of the Sudetenland—western Czechoslovakia—on the eve of World War II.

In the face of Hitler’s demands, the major European powers—Britain, France, and Italy—conceded that territory to Hitler on September 30, 1938. The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, proclaimed he had brought “peace with honor” and “peace for our time.”

Chamberlain is now a despised figure, charitably described as delusional. Appeasement proved a failed policy which only fed Hitler’s ambitions. Within a year, he invaded Poland, and World War II began.

Six more years would pass, before that war ended. During that time, an astonishing number of people died: 40-50 million. Such a huge number of fatalities in a war is far beyond the experience of readers today—but such things happen in history.

Indeed, for many European countries, including Britain and France, Friday is Armistice Day. It marks the signing of the agreement between Germany and the Allied powers that—104 years ago—ended World War I.

Thus, world war—and avoiding such a disaster— is not far from the consciousness of US and European leaders, as they grapple with how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his assault on Ukraine. 

And Tehran stepped into the middle of that through its weapons sales to Moscow, which are playing a significant role in the Ukraine conflict.

“Iranian drones have changed the character of Russia’s air war,” The Wall Street Journal reported, “and given Moscow a cheap way to bombard Ukrainian infrastructure, such as the electricity grid, in a more sustained and intensive manner when paired with its own higher-end cruise and ballistic missiles.”

That is a real challenge for the US and its European allies, and it is an important reason why their policy toward Iran has changed. Initially, they were focused on restoring the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and they tended to overlook other aspects of Iran’s malign activities in order to secure that deal.

But no deal was ever reached, and they are no longer so interested in restoring that accord, as doing so would give Iran access to billions of dollars in frozen assets and renewed trade, and they can see now why that may not be such a good idea.

Read More: G-7 Foreign Ministers slam Iran for repressing protests; failure to reach nuclear deal; support for Russia’s war in Ukraine