Amid international controversy about Iran’s military support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tehran announced a contract to supply Moscow with 40 turbines to help the country’s gas industry.
Managing Director of Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company Reza Noshadi told the official oil ministry’s news agency SHANA on Sunday that Iran's "industrial successes are not limited to the fields of missiles and drones."
Noting that the US sanctions on Russia are aimed at excluding Moscow from the gas market, he said that “In recent years, the US has widely set up LNG production plants, and recently, with the all-out embargo on Russia and then the explosion in the Nord Stream gas pipeline, it effectively eliminated one of its biggest competitors in gas exports.”
The Kremlin claims that sanctions have prevented the proper maintenance of Russian gas infrastructures and facilities, saying that, in particular, they blocked the return of a Siemens turbine that had been undergoing repairs in Canada.
In September, Vladimir Putin said at the Vladivostok forum that "Give us a turbine, we will turn Nord Stream on tomorrow", referring to a vital gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.
Both Russia and Iran hold some of the world's largest gas reserves, and are both under strict US sanctions.
Along with the US, European countries and the UK have been intensifying pressure on the Islamic Republic over its supply of military drones to Russia.
Iran has also reportedly promised to send its own Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar surface-to-surface missiles to Russia for strikes on Ukrainian cities and troops.
Konstantin Simonov, head of the National Energy Security Center in Moscow, said this week that more sanctions by the West on Tehran will give Russia a very good opportunity to invest largely in Iran’s oil and gas sector.
During a TV program he said Russia’s relations with Iran have been very complicated both during the Soviet and post-Soviet eras.
“We see that Iran has made a serious political choice and as a result it is sanctioned. The European Union is going to impose new sanctions, but I must honestly say that it is good news for us,” said Simonov.
He attested that the sanctions have given a good chance to Russia to invest in oil and gas sector of Iran which is worth over 40 billion dollars.
Ahmad Zeidabadi, a reformist regime insider, criticized the Islamic Reublic’s pro-Russian approach saying that “no one is allowed to criticize Moscow and it seems the country has forgotten its independence in international relations.”
In a TV debate on Friday, Zeidabadi declared it is not in Iran’s national interest to have a strategic relationship with Russia and China, but not with the United States.
Regarding the reported use of Iranian drones in Ukraine by Russia, he asserted that if Iran has not provided the drones, then why its dossier is being sent to the UN Security Council.
“As far as I know, Iranians want a balanced relationship with world powers. If you consider someone as an enemy, others will abuse you, like China and Russia. You have involved yourself only with one of the centers of power,” stressed Zeidabadi.
Ex-lawmaker Ali Mottahari had also censured Tehran’s decision to get involved in the Ukraine war stating that, “It is not clear who has decided to involve Iran in the war between Moscow and Kiev. Such a decision must be taken by the parliament.”
Slamming the comments by Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdullahian regarding Iran’s impartiality in Russia-Ukraine conflict, he tweeted on Wednesday saying that “if it is true, why Ukraine claims several have been killed in the attacks launched by the Iranian drones.”
It was on Thursday that Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdullahian rejected claims of Iran supplying Russia with drones to use in Ukraine.
In a telephone conversation with the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josef Borrell, he claimed Iran is opposed to war and although it has defense cooperation with Russia, it does not send arms. But Tehran’s denials have never been explicit about drones for Russia. It says it opposes the war and does not take sides. Lately, it has said reports about Iranian drones being used in Ukraine are false, but it has never clearly denied supplying them to Russia.
However, the European Union and Britain slapped sanctions on Iranian individuals and a weapons company that they say have supplied Iranian kamikaze drones to Russia to kill Ukrainian civilians and destroy its infrastructure.
On Friday, top British, French and German diplomats urged the UN Secretary General to investigate the Islamic Republic’s transfer of drones to Russia, saying that the move violates a UN Security Council resolution.
The drone issue has compounded problems faced by the Islamic Republic amid negative publicity generated by its brutal reaction to peaceful protests at home.
Syunik includes Armenia’s narrow southern strip called Zangezur where it has a land border with Iran and it launched a free trade zone there in 2017 to attract more investments to boost its exports to Iran.
Azerbaijan backed by Turkey demands a transit corridor through Syunik province to have access to its Nakhichevan Autonomous region without Armenian checkpoints.
However, Yerevan objects to the concept saying that it is a breach of the ceasefire signed after 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, that Azerbaijan won, taking back vast territories that Armenia had conquered in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the early 1990s.
Iran supports Yerevan in this dispute as it might lose its only joint border with its de facto ally Armenia and Caucasus.
During the opening of its consulate on Friday in Syunik’s capital city of Kapan, the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran will not accept any changes to historical borders in the region.
“That is our redline and we will take all steps to resist every such intention,” noted Amir-Abdollahian.
Meanwhile a deputy commander of Revolutionary Guard said on Friday that Iran would respond to any move threatening its land corridor to Europe.
“Azerbaijan achieved what it was looking for, and Karabakh was liberated, and we also congratulated it, but today, if there is any aggression we will deal with it,” threatened Ali Akbar Jamshidian.
On the other hand, Azerbaijan and Turkey also inaugurated an international airport here Thursday in Zangilan near Iran-Armenia border.
This is the second airport run in the territories Azerbaijan retook after the 2020 war with Armenia. Last year, another airport was inaugurated in Fizuli in the same region.
At this event, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said concerns by some circles are not accepted over the land corridor Ankara and Baku seek.
Apparently referring to Iran, Erdogan said “In my opinion, fears and worries among some circles about the Zangezur Corridor, which will connect Nakhchivan to Azerbaijan, are unfounded. There is no place for such fears after the steps taken in all Karabakh.”
Earlier this week Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) launched a large-scale military drill in the northwestern region of Aras along the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In September 2021 tensions flared up between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan after Baku arrested two Iranian truck drivers, accusing them of going to Nagorno Karabakh that lies within its international borders.
The tensions led to military drills by each side and political mudslinging, including Iranian accusations that Azerbaijan allows an Israeli military and intelligence presence on its territory.
The October 20-21 meeting of the European Council, the EU policy-making body made up of its 27 heads of state, will review Iran’s involvement in the Ukraine war after disagreements yesterday over proposals to price-cap Russian energy exports in the face of spiraling prices.
Among ideas circulating is a proposal made Friday by Estonian Prime Kaja Kallas to establish as special tribunal to consider Russian “aggression.” But it is unclear if the EU will take further action against Iran or Russia over the alleged supply of Iranian drones (UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles).
After Josep Borrell Monday said the EU needed evidence before acting, a closed-door United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting Wednesday reviewed available information.
The EU and the United Kingdom Thursday sanctioned three Iranian military commanders and a defense company over allegedly supplying drones to Russia. This followed the US imposition of sanctions in September on four companies it said were either involved in supplying Russia or in copying US and Israeli drones.
US, French and British officials have argued that any supply of Iranian drones to Russia violates UNSC Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). While the US left the JCPOA in 2018 and while State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday the agreement’s revival was “largely academic at the moment,” the US argues that Resolution 2231 precludes Iran from exporting drones until October 2023. Price said Thursday that Washington considered it “important that the UN and every responsible UN member state stand by the various Security Council resolutions.”
‘All means…to confront’
US officials argued Thursday not just that Iran had sent military personnel to train Russia in using Iranian-made drones. In a separate media briefing, John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, said Russian military personnel remotely piloting drones used in Ukraine were based in Crimea. Kirby said the US would use “all means” to “confront Iran’s provision of these munitions against the Ukrainian people.”
“We assess that Iranian personnel, Iranian military personnel, were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations,” Price said at a separate media briefing. “Russia has received dozens of these UAVs…. some of ..[the] proof was put on display before the UN Security Council yesterday.”
Price claimed that Moscow “may also seek to acquire advanced conventional weapons from Iran that includes potentially surface-to-air missiles.” He also warned China it would incur “costs” if it chose to provide security assistance, military assistance, or otherwise to systematically help Russia evade sanctions.”
Ukraine can use the issue of Iranian drones to ask for more Western military assistance, so far totaling around $17 billion from the US, including 1,400 Stinger missiles, and $3.1 billion from the EU, including howitzers. Washington has refused to supply more advanced weapons so as not to escalate the conflict, believing its current approach can drain Russia’s ability to conduct the war. Drones, while of limited military value, are far cheaper than missiles.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Thursday he had discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid a request for missile defense assistance. Israel has so far refused to aid Ukraine militarily so as not to upset its relations with Russia.
The decisions introduce travel bans and asset freezes on Major-General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, General Seyed Hojjatollah Qureishi, a senior defense official, and Brigadier-General Saeed Aghajani, the head of “UAV command” (unmanned aerial vehicle) in the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force. The sanctioned company Shahed Aviation Industries makes Shahed-136 drones.
An EU statement said Bagheri supervised Iran’s drone program, played a “fundamental role in Iran’s defence cooperation” with Russia, including supplying Mohajer-6 drones “for their use in the war of aggression against Ukraine.” Qureishi, the statement said, headed logistics at the Ministry of Defense and had negotiated with Russia over drone supply, while Aghajani headed “the backbone” of Iran’s drone program.
A statement from British foreign secretary James Cleverly said the UK was acting against “those who have supplied the drones used by Russia to target Ukrainian civilians and that there was “clear evidence of Iran’s destabilising role in global security.” The British foreign office said the three individuals were “personally responsible” for providing drones used by Russia in Ukraine.
The EU decisions follows discussions going on since a foreign ministers meeting Monday. Arriving in Luxemburg for that gathering, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, had said Europe was seeking “concrete evidence” that Russia had used Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks.
A CNN correspondent tweeted Tuesday that the network had been given “exclusive access to an Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drone, shot down a few weeks ago by Ukrainian forces in Southern Ukraine.” The drone, with the marking ER-860, appeared in excellent condition.
‘Dangerous new phase’
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that US and European sanctions against Iran would complement additional military aid to Ukraine. The Journal cited “officials,” presumably American, suggesting Russia’s use of drones “takes the war in Ukraine into a dangerous new phase.”
The US has sent Ukraine over $17 billion in aid, mainly in weapons, and the EU this week added $500 million to the $2.5 billion already sent in military supplies. Washington, which is so far denying Ukraine more advanced weapons so as to avoid escalation, says it wants to degrade Russian capacity as its diminishing stocks of Cruise and other missiles, which have inflicted far more damage than drones, which carry less explosives and are relatively easy to shoot down. Both the US and Turkey have supplied Ukraine with drones.
Iran has developed its drone program due to its lack of an effective air-force given international sanctions. The Shahed-129, an earlier version, may have been a copy of the Hermes 450, a drone made by Israel, which along with Turkey leads Middle East drone production.
US will ‘surge security assistance’
A US statement Wednesday said it had raised, alongside France and the UK, the alleged drone transfer at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The statement said Washington would “continue to surge unprecedented security assistance to Ukraine” and reiterated the claim, made also by European officials, that any Iranian supply of drones would violate UNSC Resolution 2231, passed in 2015 to endorse the Iranian nuclear agreement, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). The US said this week that Iran had also supplied drones to Ethiopia in 2021.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya claimed Wednesday that Iranian drones allegedly used by Russia “meet the parameters” of UNSC Resolution 2231 “because they are capable of a range of equal to or greater than 300 kilometers (186 miles).” However, there is no mention of drones in the resolution, and its restrictions on Iran lasting to October 2023 refer only to “any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons…”
The US in September sanctioned several Iranian companies it said were involved in producing drones supplied to Russia, but it was unclear how the measures would add in practice to existing US ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions, which have since Washington left the JCPOA in 2018 threatened punitive action against any entity worldwide dealing with Iran.
In his first visit to Armenia, Amir-Abdollahian is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan as well as some other officials in the country to discuss the latest regional developments.
This week, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) held a large-scale military drill in the northwestern region of Aras along the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In mid-September, Iran warned that it would not tolerate any seizure of territory from Armenia by Azerbaijan after military clashes broke out between its two northern neighbors.
Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of attacking its towns to avoid negotiations over the status of the mainly Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, an enclave which is inside Azerbaijan but populated mainly by ethnic Armenians.
Iran has to an extent supported Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan and has warned that it would not allow any seizure of territory from Armenia proper by Baku. Tehran in the past has also expressed alarm at alleged Israeli military presence in Azerbaijan.
Iran’s ally Russia, itself engaged in the military invasion of Ukraine, is a key power broker in the region and an ally of Yerevan through the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Turkey backs Azerbaijan.