Iran’s Zarif tries to form Russia-China alliance against US

Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif is trying to entice Russia to become closer to Iran through bilateral relations, Iranian media said on Thursday. He arrived in Moscow to discuss relations with Russia. The goal here is to pave the way for Iran to get around the US embargo and sanctions. Iran seeks to harness Russia and also China to confront “US lawlessness,” Tasnim News says in Iran.

Zarif praised the “important role of Russia and China in supporting the UN Security Council and countering US illegal actions in the Security Council.” Zarif said: "The Russian government and its representation in the UN have had the best position alongside China during the difficult recent months." He argues that they have “played a leading role in the face of US lawlessness.” He is referring to the US pushing snapback sanctions this month after having asserted that Iran had violated the 2015 Iran Deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Iran says that since the US left the deal in 2018 it has no leverage. The US says it will stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles. Iran has thus gone to Moscow to see about getting more support. Iran is also seeking a more close relationship with china.  

 

"Well, we have serious problems in the region," Zarif said, referring to other issues to be discussed during his visit to Russia. Tasnim noted that the Syrian conflict “requires special coordination between Iran and Russia, and we also need to coordinate with Turkey in the framework of the Astana process.” Iran is seeking a closer relationship with Turkey also and Turkey appears to want to partition Syria and remove the US from eastern Syria. Iran is wary of Turkey conquering too much of Syria.  

Iran is also laser-focused on Afghanistan. It wants the US out but doesn’t want anti-Shi’ite extremists to take over. Zarif also stressed: "Although our bilateral relations are very good, we always need to review the latest developments in bilateral relations with our Russian friends."

Zarif is a kind of celebrity in the West, despite his regime’s brutal record. He laughed when asked about rumors that France had asked him to help form a government in Lebanon and talk to Russia about Lebanon. “Such a thing is not true. Of course, we may talk about Lebanon with our Russian friends, but this is not a priority and is not on our agenda. I don't think I have talked to the French since my trip to Lebanon,” he said. He was in Lebanon in August in the wake of the Beirut explosion. 

Zarif’s main goal is to try to coordinate with Russia more closely. This is a relationship of common interests because they both want to weaken the US in the Middle East. However they do not see the region entirely in the same way. They don’t agree on Israel, for instance. However, Iran’s goal today is just to get around US sanctions and get through the arms embargo so it can get more weapons. In the past Russia played a role with Iran in terms of air defense sales and also technical assistance.