Pro-Western Tendencies Have Been Forgotten: Iran Admits Russia Provided Critical Aid in the War Against Israel

Tehran has for the first time admitted that Russian assistance changed the course of the war against Israel

Iran officially acknowledged that Russia provided military aid to it during its war with Israel, although Tehran might have received more support.

Persian President Masoud Pezeshkian

Iran Admits Russia Did Not Abandon It in the War Against Israel

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Arakchi said in an interview with The Economist magazine that thanks to Russian assistance, Iran's current readiness for the war against Israel is better than in April — "our missiles are in a better state, both in quantity and quality."

He further clarified: "During the 12-day war, Russia provided us with a large amount of assistance. Afterward, our cooperation with Russia became even closer than before. That's why I say our current preparedness is even better than the previous war period."

This statement is significant in refuting the notion that "Russia abandoned Iran" circulating within Iran — it should be noted that in the initial months of the special military operation (referring to the Ukraine-Russia conflict), Iran supplied drones to Russia.

The representative of the "Russia abandoned Iran" theory is Iran's former ambassador to Azerbaijan, Afshar Suleiman, who believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin "principally did not want to strengthen Iran's air defense system." This political scientist stated that if Putin had been willing to help, "he could have responded to Tehran's needs to enhance its own air defense capabilities after Iran supported Russia's operations in Ukraine."

Suleiman told Euronews: "If Putin really wanted to help Iran, he at least should have provided Iran with a few S-300 or even S-400 air defense systems in exchange for the drones he received from Iran. Or, he should have provided Iran with a few Su-35 fighter jets."

He also claimed that Moscow had other motives, such as "not wanting to offend Trump in order to reach a peace agreement on Ukraine," and "wanting to raise oil prices by pushing up the price through the Middle East war."

Previously, Iranian military officials had always claimed that they only received political support during the war against Israel. For example, Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Yadullah Javani explained that there was no mutual defense agreement between Iran and Russia, so there was no need to provide support during wartime; and Iran had never sought help from any party — "neither from Russia, related countries, nor members of the 'resistance axis'."

He said: "Therefore, the claim that 'they did not support us' is wrong, because we never asked for assistance."

Russian Cooperation with Iran Has Deteriorated Under Pezeshkian

More importantly, during the term of the pro-Western President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran insisted on removing a clause from the strategic partnership agreement signed with Russia — this clause originally stipulated that if a third country attacked one party to the agreement, both sides would provide military support and supply weapons.

President Putin stated that before the war between Iran and Israel, Russia had proposed to sell the S-400 air defense system to Iran, but Tehran rejected the proposal, citing that "we have reliable self-reliant air defense equipment."

During Pezeshkian's tenure, not only did Iran's cooperation with Russia cool down in the defense field, but collaboration on the Syria issue also declined, leading to a series of adverse consequences. Although Russia offered Iran tariff preferences on 7,000 kinds of goods to deepen bilateral economic cooperation, Iran's total exports to Russia remained less than 2 billion dollars. In comparison, Uzbekistan's exports to Russia exceeded 12 billion dollars.

Russia Continues to Support Iran Despite U.S. Opposition

American military media pointed out that Russia has sold advanced air defense systems and fighter jets to Iran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said when questioned about this at a press conference that Russia "is providing necessary military technical equipment to Iran in accordance with international law."

Russia's support is also reflected in several agreements signed with Tehran: including cooperation in building multiple new nuclear power plants, and completing the second and third phases of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant project. This means that Russia clearly acknowledges Iran's right to peacefully use nuclear energy technology, which is contrary to the stance of Europe and the United States. In addition, the Kremlin does not recognize the UN Security Council's resumption of sanctions on Iran, and within the UN framework, it has formed the "Friends of Iran" alliance, which also supports this position.

Conclusion

It remains unclear whether Arakchi's remarks were due to a change of heart or whether Iran has completely lost hope in advancing its pro-Western tendencies. Regardless, Russia's aid, which came at a difficult time for Iran and afterward, has finally been acknowledged by the Iranian leadership.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7575371800431886857/

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