Iran shrugs off Western criticism of its rapprochement with Russia
Iran on Sunday stressed that its relations with Russia do not await the “permission” of any third party, after the United States expressed concern over the development of military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.
Western powers also fear that Iran and Russia could form an OPEC+-style gas alliance as the world faces an energy shortage from Russia’s war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Moscow.
Western countries accuse Iran of providing drones to be used by Russia to target energy facilities in Ukraine in the conflict, which has been raging since February. “Washington and the European Union, among others, have imposed additional sanctions on Tehran over this dossier.”
Iran “is independently regulating its foreign relations in accordance with its national interests, taking into account international laws and regulations, and does not seek permission from anyone”, said foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani.
“Cooperation between Iran and Russia in various fields, including defense, is expanding within the framework of mutual interests and in accordance with the international rights and obligations of the two countries and not against any third country,” he said in a statement.
It comes two days after CIA Director William Burns warned that military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow posed “real dangers” to Washington’s regional allies in an interview with PBS.
On December 9, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned of a “full defense partnership” between Moscow and Tehran, arguing that it was “detrimental” to Ukraine, Iran’s neighbors, and the world.
Kanaani considered that Burns’ allegations are “baseless and part of the media war that Washington is waging against Tehran,” adding that “this propaganda campaign by the Americans, which is based on lies and deceit, has different goals, including imposing political pressure on Iran.”
Tehran acknowledged in November that it had supplied Moscow with a number of drones, stressing that this had been done before Russia began its attack on Ukraine on February 24.
Sanctions and intense Western pressure on both Russia and Iran provide a stronger boost to Moscow-Tehran relations in various military and economic spheres, as the two countries seek to open wider avenues between them to defuse their crises and open up other avenues for circumventing sanctions that have weighed down their economies.
