By Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN
As Russia faces mounting setbacks in Ukraine, it appears to be turning to Iran for help, in a progression that has aroused fear from regional adversaries in the West and Tehran.
Sources close to U. S. intelligence The U. S. government told CNN that Iran sent army sneakers to Crimea to exercise and advise the Russian military on the use of Iranian-made drones that Moscow has used to sow terror in Ukraine’s cities.
The presence of the Iranian workers’ corps on occupied Ukrainian territory would mark a significant escalation of Iran’s involvement in the war against Russia and a new phase in the two countries’ nascent military alliance.
Reuters also reported on Tuesday that Iran would possibly supply Russia with surface-to-surface missiles. Nasser Kanani, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, denied the accusation and said Iran “has opposed the continuation of the war [in Ukraine]. “
Despite their differences, Iran and Russia are growing closer because they “share the same belief of the threat,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a warmongering tank in Washington. “They see a regional order aligned in opposition to them through extra-regional power,” he said, referring to the United States.
If Iran sells missiles to Russia, it would mean it is “bringing some of its maximum-precision munitions, some of its maximum-precision munitions, closer to Europe,” he said. “It’s seeing Iranian involvement with Russia as a component of its broader war. “with the West. “
Since Russia’s invasion, the two sanctioned countries have cooperated on political and economic issues, with the size of the military being the last aspect of their relationship.
Maj. Gen. Yahya Safavi, one of the most sensible military aides to Iran’s ideal leader, boasted Tuesday that 22 countries are now in the Iranian drone market.
Iran, which before the 1979 revolution imported most of its weapons, now manufactures more than 80 of its military equipment, he told the semi-official Fars news agency.
Iran and Russia have denied the Islamic Republic’s involvement in Ukraine, but analysts have said news about Iranian drones is not necessarily perceived as bad exposure in Tehran.
While Russia’s use of Iranian weapons would arguably say more about its desperation in war than the prowess of Tehran’s military, experts say media reports about Iran’s killer drones reinforce its symbol as it tries to show the world that its weapons can compete in foreign conflicts.
“For Iranians, it’s about gaining market share, prestige, solidifying alliances,” said Eric Lob, a non-resident researcher in the Middle East Institute’s Iran program, adding that those are incentives for a country as remote as Iran.
Iran is not known as an arms exporter. Its weapons were sent in the past to ideologically aligned proxies in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, largely to fulfill the Islamic Republic’s regional agenda. The war in Ukraine, analysts say, is turning that.
Drones have been used in the Middle East for several years, but, Lob said, “the Iranians have been using their indigenous drone functions since the Iran-Iraq war, since the 1980s,” which gave Tehran enough time to move forward.
The war in Ukraine is an opportunity for Iran to practice how its drones are used on the battlefield, so it can read about the gaps and see how to improve them further, said Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. He added that “it is imaginable that what is happening in Ukraine will bring Iran more customers. . . Iran really needs to be a major player in the weapons and drone industry. “
But Iran’s enemies will be tracking the functionality of their drones in Ukraine. Its regional rivals in the Gulf Arab states have been direct targets of drone strikes by the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen, and have accused the Islamic Republic of supplying those drones.
Iran’s archenemy Israel is also likely to keep a close eye on it, said Amir Avivi, a retired general of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and founder and executive director of the Israel Defense and Security Forum.
“It’s a risk and it’s an opportunity,” he told CNN. “It’s an opportunity for us to look at [Iranian] functions on the ground, to be informed of what’s going on. On the other hand, one of the things that worries us is that [guns] . . . they may simply take place for Hezbollah, for example, [or] Hamas.
“It’s a challenge to keep developing and stay one step ahead of the functions that the other party is developing,” he said. “So we are very attentive to what happens in Ukraine. “
However, the developing military ties between Tehran and Moscow is “bad news” for the West, he said, “because [we] have never noticed such cooperation between Russia and Iran. “
CNN’s Fairies Gold and Abbas Al Lawati contributed to this report.
Washington-initiated regime replacement is a component of the Biden administration’s Iran policy, US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Monday.
“Our policy is to protect and basic rights of Iranian citizens just as we need the basic rights of citizens around the world. The form of government in Iran will depend on the Iranians to decide,” he said.
Protests across the country have continued for more than a month after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, and calls for the regime echo through the streets.
Here’s the latest about this unfolding story:
UAE cites EU project leader over Borrell’s comments as racist
The UAE summoned the interim head of the EU project to the country on Monday, not easy for what it described as racist comments made through EU foreign policy leader Josep Borrell last week. The UAE Foreign Ministry said the comments were “inappropriate and discriminatory” and “contribute to the worsening climate of intolerance and discrimination around the world,” the official WAM news firm reported.
Israel summons Australian ambassador to protest Jerusalem decision
Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned Australia’s ambassador to the country on Tuesday to protest Canberra’s reversal of a previous government resolution to make West Jerusalem Israel’s capital, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said.
Son of U. S. Citizen Detained in Saudi Arabia Says Father ‘Far from Dissident’
The son of a U. S. citizen jailed in Saudi Arabia for criticizing the Saudi government said late Tuesday that his father “is far from a dissident. “Ibrahim Almadi told CNN on Tuesday that if his father had been detained in Russia or Iran, “we would see his call in the headlines each and every morning. “
Egypt, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates: #Ahmed_Al_Saadoun
It’s not every day a politician from a small Gulf country talks on social media about the other aspect of the Arab world. But Kuwait’s new parliament speaker is a popular figure who has followers beyond his country’s borders.
Ahmed Al-Saadoun, 87, was appointed speaker of the Kuwaiti parliament on Tuesday. He is not new to politics, having been president between 1985 and 1999, as well as in 2012. A passionate politician with a career spanning just four decades. , is a staunch supporter of democracy, human rights and freedom of expression and is known for his voice for Palestinian rights.
Sadoun, who has more than 400,000 fans on Twitter, is trending in Egypt, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates following the announcement. Kuwait is a country of 4. 3 million people, of whom just under 2 million are citizens.
The new president did not hesitate to cause controversy. In the Gulf states, public denunciation of neighboring countries is taboo, however, in 2012, after Saudi Arabia came forward to register Gulf countries in a union, Saadoun, then speaker of parliament, said he supported Gulf integration with conditions.
“There can be no union with countries with other political systems. . . whose prisons are filled with thousands of prisoners of conscience,” he told Saudi news channel Al Arabiya at the time, adding that his own country enjoyed freedom of expression and representation. .
Kuwaiti politics is widely followed in the region. Despite the years-long standoff between the government and the overdue parliament, the country is widely seen as the top democrat of the six Gulf states, with a colorful and open press. Political discourse.
El-CNN-Wire™
Correction: This story has been corrected to imply that the Foundation for Defense of Democracies is a think tank and a registered foyer group.
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