. . . . Azerbaijan has traditionally been part of Persia over 2500 years.
The Azeri's are an Iranic people, who are Shia, though they speak a Turkic language. At university I met an Azeri student named Burhan. They are a good people, who under the influence of the Soviet Union are more secular and cosmopolitan than religious........I shared wine with Burhan, and we talked of worldly things. He was studying international trade under an American professor at Warwick university.
In the 19th century the country was detached from Iran by Imperial Russia.
In the breakup of the Soviet Union, initiated by the International Jews in collaboration with Soviet Jews in 1991, local conflicts surfaced in the Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh.
It is alleged that Mullah Iran with Russia supported Armenia, whilst Doenme Turkey allied to Israel supported Azerbaijan. Turkey has a linguistic affinity with Azerbaijan, even though most Azerbaijanis are Iranic.
Mullah Iran supported Armenia because it feared the nationalism of an independent Azerbaijan and the possibility that the 25% of its population who are also Azeri might wish to join such an independent strident country, bolstered by its petro-$. Very regressive all this. The mullahs were foolish and should have remained neutral in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
As it is Azerbaijan is now firmly pro-Israeli and has signed a huge military contract with Israel to receive large quantities of Israeli arms, and especially drones which will be used over Iranian air-space, and more intriguingly AA guns, presumably to shoot down incoming retaliatory Iranian jets and missiles. This is clearly serious, if Azerbaijan or Georgia are used by the Israeli airforce to launch attacks against fabled nuclear weapons sites in Iran, AND in anticipation of this FACT, the defenses of these countries are bolstered by Israel with the appropriate technology......SAMs and AA guns.
The Azerbaijanis have also allowed Israel to use their country to launch spy missions into Iran. Clearly hatred for mullah Iran runs deep in Azerbaijan. One thinks the Azerbaijanis are not to blame for this, but the mullahs of Iran and their meddling clumsy policies in the Caucasus from the 1990's.
What is to be done?
1. Iran needs to work with Russia to neutralize the Israeli/USA presence in Azerbaijan. A lot of hard work.
2. Iran needs to massively bolster its defense spending of a meager 3% of GDP to much higher levels......10% of GDP......in response to the war rhetoric, and events around the area. Clearly Ahmedinejad the Jew and his government will not be able to do this effectively. He serves Israel, whilst he is busy making trips to Zimbabwe and Venezuela .....and Mars (His escape destinations via Deonme Turkey---Nazi like escape hatches developed by International Jews for their puppets)....along with his more worthless speeches.
3. Threats against neighbors by Iran who work with Israel, in retaliation, is a poor strategy to contain Israel and its designs in the region.
4. Greater military aid must be given to Syria, the ally of Iran for 33 years, since its defeat will mean greater focus on an attack against Iran. 30,000 Pasdaran must be dispatched to Syria to bolster the regime, along with greater economic and military aid.
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the mullahs must know that Gaddafi lost ALL his wealth of $150 billion invested around the world when his regime was toppled.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Defense Minister is in Tehran today, negotiating with his Iranian counterpart. The two are looking to strengthen security relations amid Lebanese concerns of an Israeli attack, and reflecting Iran’s desire for its own proxy along the Israeli border.
The roles of Azerbaijan and Lebanon as possible allies in the event of an Israel-Iran war are not unique, and reflect how quickly a conflict between the two could escalate into a region-wide war.
. . . . In Iran oil production reached 6 million barrels a day in 1977, but has since declined under the mismanagement of the corrupt 33 years rule of the worthless mullahs.
The corrupt mullahs installed by the USA/UK in 1979 know how to interpret the Koran, with strange new ideas, but have no idea about how to run an oil Industry.
In Saudi Arabiaby contrast though there are many criticisms of the Crypto-Jewish rule of the House of Saud in the country, the Jews in Saudi Arabia know how to run the country's oil industry efficiently and effectively. As of 2012, Saudi Arabia is pumping 10 million barrels of oil, and which may reach 12.5 million barrels in 2013. For now the International Jews are happy with the House of Saud, especially the Rothschilds of London.
Corrupt mullah Iran by contrast it is now pumping a mere 3.5 million barrels of oil. The mullahs plead that this is because of international sanctions, since 1979, but this is totally false. Global demand for oil since 1979 has enormously increased, whilst Irans supply share for that demand has steadily decreased.....56 million barrels p/d in 1979, and now in 2012 89 million barrels.
The mullahs where it matters strategically, in economic matters are worthless puppets of the USA/UK. They make worthless rhetorical speeches.......how many speeches has Ahmedinejad the Jew made? What is the combined effort of such speeches since 2005? How many speeches has the "Supreme Fart" made since 1989?.......yet in matters of defense, oil resource management, education, infrastructure......... they seem to no nothing.
It is their supreme ineptitude, and stupidity which keeps them in power for 33 years. The International Jew based in London under the Rothschilds are pleased with them.Just as they are with Karzai with his drug peddling warlords narco state, and just as they are with Zardari bhen. There will be no "Arab Spring" against these vile worthless corrupt regimes.
But sometimes even finely planned Jew schemes can have unintended consequences. The latest Jew engineered sanctions against Iran through the JEWSA is intended to harm the Iranian STATE, and its people (Jew sanctions against CIA Saddam Iraq killed possibly 1 million Iraqis between 1991--2003 for example, but kept CIA Saddam in power).......thus the mullahs have been in power for 33 years, so that they can harm the Iranian STATE at many levels. (5 million educated Iranians have left Iran since 1979....never before in Iranian history has this ever happened)...........the latest Jew inspired sanctions will harm the Iranian state, but not the power of the illiterate mullahs.
However there are some good outcomes:
1. The current sanctions shifts Persia historically closer to Asia, and its natural environment. The puppet Shah installed by the USA/UK was artificially pro-Western, maintaining an anti-Soviet stance, close relations with Israel, security cooperation with Israel against Arab countries, massive purchase of USA arms ...$30 billion 1965--1979......blind obedience to the desires and wishes of the USA......the maintenance of $20-30 billion of state assets in Western banks and assets in Europe and the USA (1979). But this artificial situation has changed over 33 years of mullah rule, and is changing further and faster now with the present baseless Jew sanctions.
The International Jew for all his wisdom, based in London and else where feels greater mileage can be gauged for little Israel and Jewish global interests by promoting Islamic Fundies run by "al-CIA-duh".......a crude and simple plan.......create the enemies and fight them, and subjugate Muslim countries there after...........the process started and was first show cased in Iran in 1979, then Taliban/mujaheddin Afghanistan 1979, Somalia 1991, Libya 2011, Tunisia 2011, Egypt 2011, Syria 2011...... there after Jordan, Saudi Arabia.......and so on.
The mullahs naturally maintained covert relations with their REAL masters....."October Surprise" (1980)......"Iran Contra" (1981--85).......and many other such secret meetings. The mullahs maintained significant assets in Western countries in addition. But the current on going sanctions put significant pressure for even these covert connections to be cut.....expulsion of the British ambassador, and then in the future the closing of the British embassy. When the mullahs are overthrown in the future one day, the new government will inherit the closer relations with Asian nations. Western exiles run by Western intelligence, disconnected from Iran emotionally and culturally will not be accepted back into power.....after 40 odd years.
Iran will become an "Asian" country.
2. The mullahs are corrupt. There is NO religious piety about the mullahs. A true mullah does not seek power......and the privileges of power, they contemplate GOD and on all his thoughts. It is not the business of mullahs to think about the petroleum industry, or make himself directly benefit from it. NATURALLY Mullahs have never ruled Iran in her 3000 year history. But with the devious mischievous help of the USA/UK they came to power in 1979. Many mullahs have become $ billionaires....the richest on the land through this devious rule....Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. We can see from Iranian "trade"(You sell I buy, I sell you buy)....that the mullahs are pocketing the huge petro-$ profits from the oil price boom of the past few years. It is projected that in financial year ending in march 2012 total exports will be about $150 billion and total imports a mere $60 billion. The same import levels as in 1977.....35 years ago. WHY? The mullahs are pocketing the oil export profits rather than using the money to INVEST in the country. .......into the country's INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRY, and of course DEFENSE..........after all the mullahs are corrupt puppets brought into power by the USA/UK in 1979.
BUT.........now the mullahs must sell their oil to countries who wish to do REAL TRADE, as a result of the JEW international sanctions. With China Iran must import Chinese goods. With India Iran MUST import Indian goods. It is no longer desirable or feasible to trade in petro-$ which can easily be deposited and used for investments in a Jewish bank in Switzerland or investment in the Gulf or Thailand.
So if things go well, as Iran sells more oil to China, in return for barter China may offer to sell and build more power stations, industries, dams, infrastructure and defense equipment.
This will lead to true development of Iran away from the low economic growths of the last few years despite record oil revenues which are stolen by the mullah puppets of the USA/UK.
Industry experts expressed surprise at the lack of effect, saying they were positive that the sanctions were “having an impact” even if they weren’t affecting the bottom line, and pointing to increases in Iran’s storage, pending new customers.
And while those same experts are predicting that the sanctions will start doing something in the next couple of months, Iran seems to be having good luck selling the excess oil to China and India.
The use of barter instead of US dollars and offers of discounts for long term contracts may not be ideal for Iran’s government, but there still seems to be plenty of appetite for their oil abroad.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says China has bought an additional 200,000 barrels per day of Iran’s oil in recent months.
By Presstv.com
Didier Houssin, IEA director of energy markets and security, said on Tuesday that Beijing is the world's second-biggest crude consumer and may continue to increase oil imports from Iran.
"China has been buying more crude and may continue to do so," he said at the International Petroleum Week conference.
Earlier this month, the IEA predicted that China’s purchases of Iranian crude would slow in the first three months of the year.
This comes while the IEA’s latest report predicts that China’s oil demand would rise by about 4 percent this year to 9.9 million barrels a day.
The increase in Beijing’s oil purchase from Tehran comes despite the recent Iran’s oil embargo imposed by the European Union.
In January, the European Union imposed unilateral sanctions against Tehran, banning member states from importing Iran's oil as of July 2012.
China has rejected the calls from the United States and its Western allies to stop buying oil from Iran, saying it will continue its legitimate economic ties with Tehran despite the US-engineered sanctions.
The US and its Western allies are putting more pressure on Iran by imposing sanctions as they accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.
Turkey and China are providing Iran with banking facilities to purchase necessary goods.
A London-based newspaper claims Turkey and China are helping Iran to evade UN sanctions by providing Tehran with banking facilities to purchase necessary commodities through indirect means.
By Presstv.com
According to an article published by The Telegraph on Tuesday, Iran's central bank is using a number of financial institutions in China and Turkey to fund the purchase of vital goods, thus to blunt the impact of the Western sanctions on the country’s financial sector.
Washington imposed new sanctions against Tehran on the New Year’s Eve to ban other countries from purchasing the country’s crude oil or doing transaction with its central bank.
The European Union also imposed new sanctions against Tehran on January 23, including a ban on importing the Iranian crude by the EU members, a freeze on the country’s central bank assets within the EU states, and a ban on selling diamonds, gold and other precious metals to Iran.
According to Western security officials, China, which is Iran's largest oil trading partner, is playing a major role in helping the country to avoid the sanctions.
Turkey, which maintains good diplomatic relations with Tehran, is particularly useful to Tehran because of its close trading ties with Europe.
The United States, Israel and the European countries claim that Iran's peaceful nuclear program contains a military component and have used that claim as pretext to impose four rounds of international sanctions on the country through the UN Security Council in addition to unilateral sanctions.
(No, not everybody in the USA says that Iran is building nuke bombs, that is just successful media hype by Zionist friendly media's in the West......to create that perception. Very important government institutions in the USA say that Iran is not building nuke bombs)
Iran insists that as a member of International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is entitled to peaceful applications of the nuclear energy.
. . . . Symbolism is good if it has real meaning. Symbolism is bad if it conveys the wrong meaning, and outcome.
As stated before the role of the Iranian navy is irrelevant, even if some try to find some use for it maneuvering in the Red sea, or chasing Somali pirates, or even sailing in the Atlantic.
Iran is a land power that requires credible land forces......Artesh, Pasdaran and airforce, air defense.
Iran presently does not have credible land forces.
In relation to Shia run Syria, the Russians have a naval base in the country, and have sent big warships to pay courtesy visits to the country, in support of the legitimate and popular Assad government. (I hope the Syrian government does not concede elections at this moment of crisis, this is tantamount to surrender to "al-CIA-duh")
Thus sending one lone warship with a naval support ship from Iran is worthless and does not provide REAL assistance to the embattled, legitimate and popular Assad government.
What Syria needs from Iran is at least 30,000 elite Pasdaran to fight side by side with the Syrian security forces, testing their tactics and equipment in addition.
This will boost the morale of the Syrian security forces when they know that they have reliable partners fighting with them, side by side.
If the USA can conduct terrorism in Iran from Pakistan and Afghanistan. If Israeli security are allowed into Iraq as they were during 2003--2012......from where terrorists have killed Iranians in Tehran. If Israel can use Azerbaijan to conduct terrorist ops against Iran in Tehran. If Western security from NATO/USA assists the "al-Qaeda" terrorists attack Syria from Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon...........the least the Iranian government do is stand side by side with the embattled, legitimate popular Syrian government and fight with them.
As it is Iran may be attacked after Syria, or then again Iran may be attacked before Syria........but there is no point holding back the Pasadarn, WAITING to be attacked directly, before they go into action.
The Pasdaran must be used now in SYRIA.....30,000 of them. Lets see if they are any good.
The rational and logic has been provided, but the decision rests with the mullah puppets installed in 1979 by the USA/UK.
Iranian MP Hossein Ebrahimi, one of the top ranking members of the nation’s National Security and Foreign Affairs Commission, today slammed calls by top US officials to begin smuggling arms into Syria.
Iranian officials explained the arrival of two Iranian warships at Tartus, the same port that already houses Russian warships, as a sign that both nations are willing to make an effort to prevent arms smuggling.
It is unlikely the ships will have much practical impact, however, as Syria has enormous land borders that are difficult to guard and would be more favorable for such smuggling.
(even though the writer is not qualified in security matters, even he understand the donkey symbolism and stupidity of the action.........as worthless.)
. . . . The Shah was planning an economic community like the EU including Iran, Afghanistan and South Asia, using his petro-$ to fund it, but it never materialized due to the Islamic Uprising funded by the USA/UK....from 1978/79.
In 1978 BP stopped selling 3 million barrels of the 5 million barrels p/d petrol exports of Iran, which created havoc for the Shah's finances......then began the covert current Syria like destabilization which resulted in the death of 100's of people. The Shah being a weak effete man succumbed to such devious pressure from his "ally's/masters" and he left the country.
The American trained and armed Iranian military were pressured to stand down and not do anything by the Pentagon, until it was too late. Most of the generals obeyed their American masters and most them were executed by the mullahs subsequently in 1979.
Pakistan definitely does not need the JEWSA, and obviously Iran doesn't need the JEWSA either.
_______________________
Iran offers Islamabad assistance to complete the IP project
Presstv.com
Iran is willing to help Pakistan to complete the IP gas pipeline project.
"The Islamic Republic is willing to help its Eastern neighbor to complete the IP gas pipeline project,”
Iran’s Vice President for International Affairs Ali Saeedlou
Iran has offered Islamabad to assist in building the part of the much-awaited Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project that runs on Pakistan’s soil.
In a meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad on February 7, Iran’s Vice President for International Affairs Ali Saeedlou announced that Islamic Republic is willing to help its Eastern neighbor to complete the IP project, the Pakistani daily Nation reported.
The two countries also signed three memorandums of understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation in the economic sector.
The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is meant to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters (8.7 billion cubic meters per year) of the Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.
The maximum daily gas transfer capacity of the 56-inch pipeline, which runs over 900 km on Iran's soil from Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province to the city of Iranshahr in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, is said to stand at 110 million cubic meters.
Zardari also vowed to complete the gas pipeline project “at any cost,” adding that Pakistan is committed to the implementation of the project at the earliest as the plan is crucial for his country’s energy needs.
The Pakistani official went on to say that Pakistan and Iran are poised to play an important role in the promotion of intra and inter-regional connectivity, which is key to the socio-economic development of the country.
Iran and Pakistan also agreed to increase their mutual trade volume to over five billion dollars.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir had also hailed the ‘deep-rooted’ relations between Tehran and Islamabad on February 5, stressing that the bilateral ties are not affected by the Western sanctions on Iran.
Iran and Pakistan have bolstered their relations in political, economic and cultural fields and no obstacle can prevent the two nations from promoting the amicable relations, which are based on goodwill and mutual respect, Bashir said.
. . . . In which can case fighting Somali Pirates is not relevant for Iran.
Sending the great Iranian fleet to the Red Sea will be irrelevant.
Sending the mighty Persian fleet to the Atlantic will be irrelevant.
Blocking the Straits of Hormuz, and punishing the International community for an Israeli crime, will be a big mistake, and will allow the USA and NATO to enter on the side of Israel, after the Israeli baiting action against Iran.
Iran must choose her options carefully, and think of what would be the most proper MEASURED response to an Israeli aerial attack. No thoughtless action must be taken against any Third Parties, for any Israeli attack.
As stated before since 2005, Iran needs to massively boost her air-defense systems, and lease equipment from Russia and China. AA, and SAMs. Iran needs to increase the size and capability of the airforce with indigenous production of new jet fighters. Airforce 100,000 and air-defense 150,000.........personnel.
The Artesh mobilized to 700,000 and the Pasdaran to 300,000 by March 2012, and kept at that level for several years. The Artesh moved out of their military bases, save for flags waving and spread out around the country....ready to defend Iran ONLY.
The Pasdaran moved out of their military bases, save for flags waving and spread out around the country, ready to be used in offensive operations in Lebanon, and else where against Israel.
The Great Persian navy can stay near the Iranian coast and avoid any false flag operations and confrontations with the USA and NATO. They should not waste their time fighting Somali pirates.
The mobilization of the Baseej will not be required.They should stay with their mothers. From where does the Ariel attack come?
From Israel, over Iraq?
From Saudi Arabia, where Israeli planes have been sighted in some bases (F-15I)
From NATO Turkey?
From Georgia, which has very close security links with Israel?
From Azerbaijan, which has developed very close security links with Israel?
From Turkmenistan?
Who can say?
Certainly defense expenditure must be boosted to 15% of GDP. North Korea spends 26% of its GDP on defense and has a standing military machine of 1,200,000.......That is why despite being within the "Axis of Evil" club, and an open nuclear bomb program boasted to the world loudly....... the USA does not attack the country.
The donkey mullahs must persuade themselves to steal less money from the state petro-$ coffers, and spend more money on defense of the homeland. For it is unimaginable what angry Iranians will do to the MULLAHS, at the behest of the USA, if the country is conquered.......
What they will do to Ahmedinejad (Though I hear he has agreed on escape plans to Venezuela via Doenme Turkey as with many top Nazis to South America)....to Khamenei and the rest of the donkey dogs in Iranian security who relay messages and direction and instructions from the British and Western embassies. ______________________
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days, from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But his biggest worry is the growing possibility that Israel will attack Iran over the next few months.
Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June — before Iran enters what Israelis described as a “zone of immunity” to commence building a nuclear bomb. Very soon, the Israelis fear, the Iranians will have stored enough enriched uranium in deep underground facilities to make a weapon — and only the United States could then stop them militarily.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want to leave the fate of Israel dependent on American action, which would be triggered by intelligence that Iran is building a bomb, which it hasn’t done yet.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak may have signaled the prospect of an Israeli attack soon when he asked last month to postpone a planned U.S.-Israel military exercise that would culminate in a live-fire phase in May. Barak apologized that Israel couldn’t devote the resources to the annual exercise this spring.
Figures released by Iranian officials show the country's foreign trade has been developing in recent years despite tougher sanctions imposed on Iran's oil and financial sectors by the US and European Union.
Iran's Ambassador to Beijing Mehdi Safari said Wednesday that trade between Iran and China increased by 55 percent to exceed 45 billion dollars in 2011.
He added that the annual trade figures show a 16 billion-dollar increase in commercial ties with China since 2010.
China is Iran's top trade partner, with economic ties expanding in recent years after the withdrawal of Western companies in line with sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its peaceful nuclear program.
Beijing has also significantly increased its presence in Iran's oil and gas sector by signing a series of contracts worth up to 40 billion dollars in the past few years.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao defended his country's oil trade with Iran in defiance of proposed US and European sanctions during the last leg of his recent Persian Gulf tour on January 19.
"I believe that China is not the only country to buy oil from Iran... Legitimate trade has to be protected if global economic chaos is to be avoided," Wen told reporters in the Qatari capital city of Doha.
Iran is the third largest provider of oil to China which accounts for 11 percent of the country's oil imports.
India and South Korea are also major importers of Iran's crude oil which have rejected frequent calls by US and EU to join West's oil embargo against Tehran.
On December 31, 2011, US President Barack Obama signed into law new sanctions which seek to penalize countries importing Iran's oil or doing transaction with the country's central bank.
In their latest meeting in Brussels on January 23, EU foreign ministers also imposed new sanctions on Iran which include a ban on purchasing oil from the country, a freeze on the assets of Iran's Central Bank within the EU, and a ban on the sale of diamonds, gold and other precious metals to Iran.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton claimed that the new sanctions aim to bring Iran back to negotiations with P5+1 -- US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany -- over the country's peaceful nuclear program.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to impose four rounds of sanctions and a series of unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran has refuted the allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tehran has a right to use nuclear technology for peaceful use.
. . . . American power is projected by itself, and also through mostly Western proxies such as Germany, UK and other agent dogs........they ALL in turn work under the supreme objectives of the International Jews.
We note the overthrow of the Shah was a Western effort by the USA/UK and other Western countries. The same applies with the overthrow of Gaddafi.....and Syria.
Some in Iran fume about the loss of oil exports to the EU, from July 2012, but I think in the sum total of things the loss of 1 million barrels worth of exports to EU from Iran is not the end of the world STRATEGICALLY speaking, and certainly not a credible justification for blocking the Straights of Hormuz. China is rapidly picking up oil exports from Iran, and so may India. Perhaps Iran can offer more favorable terms for the export of gas to India via Pakistan.
American sanctions will not curtail Iran's impress export growth in the years to come, especially in the non-oil sector.
__________________________
China: EU Iran sanctions blind pressure
By presstv.com
China has criticized the European Union's new unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran as blind pressure and unconstructive.
“To blindly pressure and impose sanctions on Iran are not constructive approaches," the Chinese foreign ministry said Thursday in reaction to EU's recent measure against Iran over the country's nuclear program.
The United States and its allies have been accusing Tehran of pursuing a military nuclear program, and have used the allegation to impose four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions on the Islamic Republic and to take more unilateral measures against the country.
Tehran has categorically refuted the Western allegation, saying that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to acquire and develop nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes.
The EU slapped new sanctions against Iran in a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers on January 23.
The 27-member bloc agreed to ban oil imports as well as petroleum products from the major OPEC member state and freeze the assets of the Iranian Central Bank across the EU.
The European Union also imposed a ban on the sale of gold, diamonds, and other precious metals to Iran.
The Eurasian "Triple Alliance." The Strategic Importance of Iran for Russia and China
By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya at Global Research
Despite areas of difference and rivalries between Moscow and Tehran, ties between the two countries, based on common interests, have developed significantly.
Both Russia and Iran are both major energy exporters, they have deeply seated interests in the South Caucasus. They are both firmly opposed to NATO's missile shield, with a view to preventing the U.S. and E.U. from controlling the energy corridors around the Caspian Sea Basin.
Moscow and Tehran's bilateral ties are also part of a broader and overlapping alliance involving Armenia, Tajikistan, Belarus, Syria, and Venezuela. Yet, above all things, both republics are also two of Washington’s main geo-strategic targets.
The Eurasian Triple Alliance: The Strategic Importance of Iran for Russia and China
China, the Russian Federation, and Iran are widely considered to be allies and partners. Together the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, and the Islamic Republic of Iran form a strategic barrier directed against U.S. expansionism. The three countries form a "triple alliance," which constitutes the core of a Eurasian coalition directed against U.S. encroachment into Eurasia and its quest for global hegemony.
While China confronts U.S. encroachment in East Asia and the Pacific, Iran and Russia respectively confront the U.S. led coalition in Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. All three countries are threatened in Central Asia and are wary of the U.S. and NATO military presence in Afghanistan.
Iran can be characterized as a geo-strategic pivot. The geo-political equation in Eurasia very much hinges on the structure of Iran's political alliances. Were Iran to become an ally of the United States, this would seriously hamper or even destabilize Russia and China. This also pertains to Iran's ethno-cultural, linguistic, economic, religious, and geo-political links to the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Moreover, were the structure of political alliances to shift in favour of the U.S., Iran could also become the greatest conduit for U.S. influence and expansion in the Caucasus and Central Asia. This has to do with the fact that Iran is the gateway to Russia's soft southern underbelly (or "Near Abroad") in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
In such a scenario, Russia as an energy corridor would be weakened as Washington would "unlock" Iran's potential as a primary energy corridor for the Caspian Sea Basin, implying de facto U.S. geopolitical control over Iranian pipeline routes. In this regard, part of Russia's success as an energy transit route has been due to U.S. efforts to weaken Iran by preventing energy from transiting through Iranian territory.
If Iran were to "change camps" and enter the U.S. sphere of influence, China's economy and national security would also be held hostage on two counts. Chinese energy security would be threatened directly because Iranian energy reserves would no longer be secure and would be subject to U.S. geo-political interests. Additionally, Central Asia could also re-orient its orbit should Washington open a direct and enforced conduit from the open seas via Iran.
Thus, both Russia and China want a strategic alliance with Iran as a means of screening them from the geo-political encroachment of the United States. “Fortress Eurasia” would be left exposed without Iran. This is why neither Russia nor China could ever accept a war against Iran. Should Washington transform Iran into a client then Russia and China would be under threat.
Misreading the Support of China and Russia for U.N. Security Council Sanctions
There is a major misreading of past Russian and Chinese support of U.N. sanctions against Iran. Even though Beijing and Moscow allowed U.N. Security Council sanctions to be passed against their Iranian ally, they did it for strategic reasons, namely with a view to keeping Iran out of Washington's orbit.
In reality, the United States would much rather co-opt Tehran as a satellite or junior partner than take the unnecessary risk and gamble of an all-out war with the Iranians. What Russian and Chinese support for past sanctions did was to allow for the development of a wider rift between Tehran and Washington. In this regard, realpolitik is at work. As American-Iranian tensions broaden, Iranian relations with Russia and China become closer and Iran becomes more and more entrenched in its relationship with Moscow and Beijing.
Russia and China, however, would never support crippling sanctions or any form of economic embargo that would threaten Iranian national security. This is why both China and Russia have refused to be coerced by Washington into joining its new 2012 unilateral sanctions. The Russians have also warned the European Union to stop being Washington's pawns, because they are hurting themselves by playing along with the schemes of the United States. In this regard Russia commented on the impractical and virtually unworkable E.U. plans for an oil embargo against Iran. Tehran has also made similar warnings and has dismissed the E.U. oil embargo as a psychological tactic that is bound to fail.
Left photo: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and President Dmitry A. Medvedev of Russia during a bilateral meeting in Dushabe, Tajikistan. The bilateral Iranian-Russian meeting was held on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit on August 28, 2008. Right photo: Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov together in Moscow discussing Russia’s step-by-step nuclear proposal.
Russo-Iranian Security Cooperation and Strategic Coordination
In August 2011, the head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Secretary-General Saaed (Said) Jalili, and the head of the National Security Council of the Russian Federation, Secretary Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev met in Tehran to discuss the Iranian nuclear energy program as well as bilateral cooperation. Russia wanted to help Iran rebuff the new wave of accusations by Washington directed against Iran. Soon after Patrushev and his Russian team arrived in Tehran, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, flew to Moscow.
Both Jalili and Patrushev met again in September 2011, but this time in Russia. Jalili went to Moscow first and then crossed the Urals to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
The Iran-Russia Yekaterinburg meeting took place on the sidelines of an international security summit. Moreover, at this venue, it was announced that the highest bodies of national security in Moscow and Tehran would henceforth coordinate by holding regular meetings. A protocol between the two countries was was signed at Yekaterinburg.
During this important gathering, both Jalili and Patrushev held meetings with their Chinese counterpart, Meng Jianzhu. As a result of these meetings, a similar process of bilateral consultation between the national security councils of Iran and China was established. Moreover, the parties also discussed the formation of a supranational security council within the Shanghai Cooperation Council to confront threats directed against Beijing, Tehran, Moscow and their Eurasian allies.
Also in September 2011, Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian envoy to NATO, announced that he would be visiting Tehran in the near future to discuss the NATO missile shield project, which both the Moscow and Tehran oppose.
Reports claiming that Russia, Iran, and China were planning on creating a joint missile shield started to surface. Rogozin, who had warned in August 2011 that Syria and Yemen would be attacked as "stepping stones" in the broader confrontation directed against Tehran, responded by publicly refuting the reports pertaining to the establishment of a joint Sino-Russo-Iranian missile shield project.
The following month, in October 2011, Russia and Iran announced that they would be expanding ties in all fields. Soon after, in November 2011, Iran and Russia signed a strategic cooperation and partnership agreement between their highest security bodies covering economics, politics, security, and intelligence. This was a long anticipated document on which both Russia and Iran had been working on. The agreement was signed in Moscow by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Supreme Security Council of Iran, Ali Bagheri (Baqeri), and the Under-Secretary of the National Security Council of Russia, Yevgeny Lukyanov.
In November 2011, the head of the Committee for International Affairs in the Russian Duma, Konstantin Kosachev, also announced that Russia must do everything it can to prevent an attack on neighbouring Iran. At the end of November 2011 it was announced that Dmitry Rogozin would definitely visit both Tehran and Beijing in 2012, together with a team of Russian officials to hold strategic discussions on collective strategies against common threats.
Left and right photos: Secretary-General Jalili and Secretary Patrushev in Tehran, Iran holding Iranian-Russian national security talks during August 2011. Left photo: Deputy Secretary-General Ali Bagheri at a press conference in Moscow, Russia after signing a security pact with Russian officials. Right photo: Konstantin Kosachev, the Chairperson of the Committee for International Affairs in the Russian Duma.
Russian National Security and Iranian National Security are Attached
On January 12, 2012, Nikolai Patrushev told Interfax he feared that a major war was imminent and that Tel Aviv was pushing the U.S. to attack Iran. He dismissed the claims that Iran was secretly manufacturing nuclear weapons and said that for years the world had continuously heard that Iran would have an atomic bomb by next week ad nauseum. His comments were followed by a dire warning from Dmitry Rogozin.
On January 13, 2012, Rogozin, who had been appointed deputy prime minister, declared that any attempted military intervention against Iran would be a threat to Russia's national security. In other words, an attack on Tehran is an attack on Moscow. In 2007, Vladimir Putin essentially mentioned the same thing when he was in Tehran for a Caspian Sea summit, which resulted in George W. Bush Jr. warning that World War III could erupt over Iran. Rogozin's statement is merely a declaration of what has been the position of Russia all along: should Iran fall, Russia would be in danger.
Iran is a target of U.S. hostility not just for its vast energy reserves and natural resources, but because of major geo-strategic considerations that make it a strategic springboard against Russia and China. The roads to Moscow and Beijing also go through Tehran, just as the road to Tehran goes through Damascus, Baghdad, and Beirut. Nor does the U.S. want to merely control Iranian oil and natural gas for consumption or economic reasons. Washington wants to put a muzzle around China by controlling Chinese energy security and wants Iranian energy exports to be traded in U.S. dollars to insure the continued use of the U.S. dollar in international transactions.
Moreover, Iran has been making agreements with several trade partners, including China and India, whereby business transactions will not be conducted in euros or U.S. dollars. In January 2012, both Russia and Iran replaced the U.S. dollar with their national currencies, respectively the Russian rouble and the Iranian rial, in their bilateral trade. This was an economic and financial blow to the United States.
Left photo: Vladimir V. Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holding talks in Tehran, Iran on the sidelines of a summit of Caspian Sea nations in October 2007. Right photo: Dmitry O. Rogozin, the departing representative of Russia at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Syria and the National Security Concerns of Iran and Russia
Russia and China with Iran are all staunchly supporting Syria. The diplomatic and economic siege against Syria is tied to the geo-political stakes to control Eurasia. The instability in Syria is tied to the objective of combating Iran and ultimately turning it into a U.S. partner against Russia and China.
The cancelled or delayed deployment of thousands of U.S. troops to Israel for "Austere Challenge 2012" was tied to ratcheting up the pressure against Syria. On the basis of a Voice of Russia report, segments of the Russian media erroneously reported that "Austere Challenge 2012" was going to be held in the Persian Gulf, which was mistakenly picked up by news outlets in other parts of the world. This helped highlight the Iranian link at the expense of the Syrian and Lebanese links. The deployment of U.S. troops was aimed predominately at Syria as a means of isolating and combating Iran. The "cancelled" or "delayed" Israeli-U.S. missile exercises most probably envisaged preparations for missile and rocket attacks not only from Iran, but also from Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories.
Aside from its naval ports in Syria, Russia does not want to see Syria used to re-route the energy corridors in the Caspian Basin and the Mediterranean Basin. If Syria were to fall, these routes would be re-synchronized to reflect a new geo-political reality. At the expense of Iran, energy from the Persian Gulf could also be re-routed to the Mediterranean through both Lebanon and Syria.
Left photo: Syrian Defence Minister Dawoud (David) Rajha visiting the docked Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in the Syrian port of Tartus on January 8, 2012. Right photo: Syrian allies, Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, join President Bashar Al-Assad for a summit in Damascus, Syria on February 25, 2010.
Left photo: The Alvand, one of the two Iranian warships that visited the Syrian port of Lattakia during February 2011. Right photo: Rear-Admirial Habibollah Sayyari holding a press conference on February 28, 2001 at the Iranian Embassy in Syria about the Iranian naval presence off Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
A Cold War between Tehran and Washington has been raging across the Middle East from Lebanon to Iraq and the Persian Gulf with the use of spies, drones, assassinations, and perception campaigns.
Since 2001, Washington and NATO have started the process of cordoning off Lebanon and Syria. This initiative was supported by Israel with a view to weakening Syria and curtailing Iranian power and influence in the Middle East.
Washington has announced that it has the right to violate the national boundaries of countries which harbor terrorists as well as send troops to these countries...
This secret Israeli-Saudi alliance acts to destabilize Southwest Asia and North Africa on behalf of the Pentagon and NATO.
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is a Sociologist and award-winning author. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal. He specializes on the Middle East and Central Asia. He has been a contributor and guest discussing the broader Middle East on numerous international programs and networks such as Al Jazeera, Press TV and Russia Today. His writings have been published in more than ten languages. He also writes for the Strategic Culture Foundation (SCF), Moscow.
Turns out, the sanctions are doing exactly nothing so far, with 
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