Tehran's double game in Ukraine
Expert Vadim Trukhan's standpoint

INTERVIEWS  09 March 2023 - 16:45

Tehran's "transparent diplomacy" is back in action. Its new statements, where it once again denies supplying its weapons to the Russian army for the war in Ukraine, are perhaps exactly in the same vein.

It is surprising how persistently Tehran sticks to its guns. It seems that Iran really convinced that someone will believe it as it pretends to be as innocent as a lamb. Who is Tehran's policy aimed at, what is Ukraine's attitude to it and how are such games perceived there?

Responding to the US chargé d'affaires in Kuwait, who accused Iran of supplying weapons to Russia, IRI again said it was not providing any support to the warring parties.

Particularly noteworthy are the points in Iran's response to the Americans, which Tehran apparently considers to be of principal importance:

- Iran supports Ukraine's territorial integrity and, as a country that suffered Iraq's attack in the 1980s, favours an exclusively peaceful solution to the conflict.

- Iran opposes unilateral sanctions and believes that the West is only prolonging the war by providing arms to Ukraine.

- Iran says the Ukrainian side has never produced evidence of Iranian arms supplies to Russia (TehranTimes).

After reading these verbal gymnastics one cannot help feeling that with its theses and assurances of absolute pacifism Iran is trying to adopt methods of political games of its much more skillful and powerful partner - China. Lately, the mullahs' regime has been actively building ties with Beijing, practically fawning over the superpower government and indulging it in everything. Clearly, Tehran would very much like to resemble China in many ways, at least in terms of strength and political and economic firmness, but, they are out of this league. How are Iran's "sweet songs" perceived in Ukraine itself, in a country where innocent people are being killed by Iranian drones operated by the Russian military?

"Actually, nothing new in these statements - just the traditional tricks of Iran. The mullah regime refuses, as in many other things, to admit that it is supplying Russia with Shahed drones, its own lethal weapons," Ukrainian political analyst Vadim Trukhan told Caliber.Az.

"There is a very simple scheme here: the Russians repaint these Shahed drones, call them "Geran 1" or "Geran 2" and use them during aggression in Ukraine. And a lot of evidence has already been presented to that effect," the Ukrainian political analyst says.

As for Iran's verbal recognition of Ukraine's territorial integrity, according to Trukhan, an important circumstance should be highlighted - Tehran is playing its own game, namely "trying to leave the door ajar for negotiations with Ukraine, and in a broader context - with the West".

Therefore, the expert believes, the IRI is not going for more massive deliveries of drones to Russia, much less sending ballistic missiles there. Iran is waiting and maneuvering.

"But this is for now. That is Iran's position at the moment. We don't know its further strategy," Trukhan stressed.

As for Tehran's statements on sanctions, the Ukrainian political scientist believes that this is its well-known position, which coincides with the policy of China and several other countries, which are trying to present themselves as neutral, but in fact, giving a hand to Russia, help it survive under the pressure of massive Western sanctions.

"This is such a double game by Tehran. They say we are peacemakers, we are for world peace, we are for all good against all bad, that is blatant populism without any specific substance. In a sense, this has turned into some kind of clichéd action where one has to say something while avoiding specific criticism of Moscow, which is used as a tool by the leadership of a number of countries. And in fact, they contribute to the sprawl of aggression by the Russian Federation," Vadim Trukhan believes.

Caliber.Az