Iran Review

Dr. Mehdi Sanaei
University Professor; Member of Majlis Foreign Policy Commission; Russian Affairs Analyst

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, recently regretted that Iran had refused to cooperate with the international community, but opposed more sanctions against the country. Lavrov called for more international efforts to end the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West instead of imposing tougher sanctions on Tehran.

Russia’s tone on Iran has apparently changed in the past year. Of course, Moscow is following the same general logic in its foreign policy, opposes US unilateralism and is willing for international problems to be resolved through negotiations. The Russians maintain that any decision taken outside the framework of international laws and under the influence of the United States would undermine the authority of international bodies. Russia’s tone, however, has changed for two reasons.

Firstly, the tension which we saw is US-Russia relations last summer does not exist anymore. The tension between Washington and Moscow had escalated in the past few years, entered a special phase after the United States decided to deploy its missiles along the eastern borders of Russia, and reached its acme during the war in Georgia.
At present, the United States has given up its missile defense initiative and countries where velvet revolutions succeeded and are now inclined toward Russia are not on the list of priorities of US foreign policy. Therefore, a kind of balance has been reached between Russia and the United States.

Secondly, Russia is willing for Iran to open the doors to negotiations and be more pragmatic in its foreign policy, especially when it comes to the nuclear program. As put by Russian officials, Iran should build confidence with the negotiating parties and pave the way for forward progress of talks. Unlike the past when Russia simply hoped that Iran would be more resilient, now, Moscow has adopted a different tone on that issue.

Russia, due to strategic reasons, has indicated its opposition to sanctions and more pressure against Iran because Iran is a big partner for Russia in the region and the two countries are engaged in broad-based economic cooperation. On the other hand, Iran is important to Russia in terms of national security.

Let’s not forget that Russia gives priority to its own national interests and its foreign policy is based on pragmatism and balance between profits and losses.

Russia’s future positions

Due to the aforesaid reasons, Russia is opposed to further sanctions against Iran and will do its best to resist against adoption of more sanctions while trying to get Iran show more resilience. Experience, however, has proven that at the end of the day, Russia would not veto a new sanctions resolution against Iran.

We hope China and Russia would take this reality into account that their long-term interests and regional security are dependent on cooperation among regional countries like Iran, China, Russia and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Agreement to sanctions against Iran, which would by no means weaken Iran’s resolve to go on with its peaceful nuclear activities, would amount to ignoring the inalienable rights of a nation which has been granted according to international treaties and would be considered cooperation with Western countries which have referred Iran’s nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council on grounds that it is a threat to international security.

Both long-term interests and principles of international diplomacy call for China and Russia to do their best to get the nuclear case back to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Of course, Iran’s nuclear negotiators are also expected to come up with new solutions in order to prevent adoption of new sanctions resolutions against their country.