The Guardian: Tehran government is willing to take a tougher line with Moscow because of Azerbaijan
Iran’s new reformist government has warned Russia against siding with Azerbaijan in a border dispute as concerns in Tehran persist over its relations with Moscow, The Guardian writes.
The Iranian foreign minister, Sayeed Abbas Araghchi, took the unusual step of upbraiding Russia after Moscow sided with Azerbaijan over its calls for a land corridor along the Armenia-Iran border that Tehran fears could limit its access to Europe and the wider world.
The row has wider geo-political implications if it indicates that the newly elected Iranian government is willing to take a tougher line with Moscow as part of its effort to rebalance its foreign policy. Russia and Iran are due to sign a new strategic cooperation agreement, but the content is still open for debate, and tensions exist within the Iranian government over the diplomatic price of deepening its military alliance with Russia.
Iran earlier this week also summoned the Russian ambassador, Alexey Dedov, to express its displeasure at Moscow’s stance. Mohsen Rezaei, the former overall commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said: “These ambiguities should be resolved.” Ahmad Naderi, a hardliner inside the parliament, said: “The lack of appropriate response to the Russians in the cases of previous actions against Iran’s national interests has caused them to be doubly arrogant. They should be made to understand that strategic cooperation does not mean renouncing interests.”
Azerbaijan has at various times threatened to establish the corridor by force if necessary, which would be likely to provoke a further war with Armenia, the Guardian writes.
EU Spokesperson Peter Stano said that EU-Iran relations are unlikely to improve if Iran continues to supply drones and other weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine. The Iranian ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeed Iravani, took the unusual step of sending a letter to the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, saying talk of such a trade was baseless. Stano added that Stano said Josep Borrell, head of EU foreign affairs, had been in touch with the new Iranian government to raise the issue of Iran’s support for Russia in Ukraine, as well as to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.
