CLOSE ENCOUNTERS IN MOSCOW

Perhaps the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Moscow has been one of the most notable political events of recent days. It confirmed the significance of the Russian-Iranian co-operation in global and regional politics, including also the processes in the South Caucasus.

From the Middle East to Ukraine

Russia and Iran continue to demonstrate their almost complete unanimity on building a multipolar system and, consequently, countering the West's desire to maintain its global leadership. This is also confirmed in particular by the upcoming membership status of Iran in BRICS in January 2024 and the convergence of Moscow's and Tehran's positions on the most urgent issues of international politics.

The most prominent of them is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict also discussed during Raisi's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Remarkably, the Russian leader had discussed the Middle East settlement during his earlier visits to the UAE and Saudi Arabia just before his meeting with the Iranian president. Putin confirmed to President Raisi Russia's position on the need for a Palestinian state, which is in line with the position of the Muslim world. But unlike Iran, Russia avoids blatant insults against Israel, which could be qualified as rejection of the Jewish state as such. Yet, the positions of Russia and Iran clearly coincide as far as the current situation in the Gaza Strip is concerned. Either way, President Putin did not disagree with Raisi, who assessed Israel's actions in the Palestinian enclave as "genocide and crimes against humanity, supported by the US and Western countries."

"Both parties highlighted the need to immediately stop the war and genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, stop the forced migration of Gazans and immediately open the border at Rafah to send massive humanitarian aid to all of Gaza," Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdollahian summarised the outcome of discussions on the Middle East between presidents Putin and Raisi.

Meanwhile, Iran remains a close partner of Russia in the war in Ukraine. We can note here the participation of the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in the Russian-Iranian talks held in Moscow. Apparently, the parties have outlined further strengthening of military-technical co-operation. Iran has supplied Russia with attack drones. At the same time, Iran expects deliveries of the latest Russian Su-35 fighter jets and Mi-28 attack helicopters from Russia soon.

North-South corridor is a priority

Economic cooperation is a key element of Russian-Iranian relations. According to President Putin, the trade turnover between Russia and Iran has increased by 20% over the past year ($5b). However, bilateral economic cooperation is becoming increasingly dependent on geopolitics. Thus, the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union) and Iran are going to sign a free trade agreement  at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg at the end of the year.

Moscow and Tehran express their mutual intention to implement large infrastructure projects. According to Putin, Russia and Iran have reached the practical implementation stage of the North-South railway. It is no coincidence that experts agree that the creation of the North-South transport corridor has become the centrepiece of Russian-Iranian economic cooperation.

Russia and Iran declare their interest in the fastest implementation of this project. However, reports from Moscow and Tehran suggest that the financial issues of the project have yet to be agreed. Iranian side expects Russia to bear the major part of the costs. But Moscow seems determined to evenly distribute the financial responsibility for the North-South transport corridor, which is expected to play an important role in the forthcoming cargo transport system linking Europe and Asia.

Azerbaijan, as a natural bridge between Russia and Iran, plays a key role in the implementation of the North-South corridor. However, this is not the only factor determining the importance of Azerbaijan in the strategic interests of Russia and Iran in the South Caucasus.

South Caucasus and 3+3

Russian and Iranian foreign policy in the South Caucasus stems from the new regional reality established after Azerbaijan's victory in the war with Armenia that put an end to the Garabagh conflict. Statements from Moscow and Tehran show that they see the end of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia as a historic opportunity not only to normalise their relations, but also to promote peace and expand multilateral cooperation throughout the region.

At the same time, both Russia and Iran see Armenia's increasingly obvious trend towards the West as a threat to their interests. This explains the serious cooling in Russian-Armenian relations and Iran's undisguised concern about Yerevan's attempts at foreign policy reorientation. Although Tehran constantly declares its support for Armenia's territorial integrity (as if it was threatened), it continues to send meaningful messages about the inadmissibility of involving the West in regional processes.

In general, Russia and Iran have clearly defined their intension to oppose the plans of the US and the EU to expand Western influence in the South Caucasus. They also find support from another major regional power, Türkiye. It was Türkiye that first supported the initiative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to create the 3+3 platform, which is a project of peace, security and broad co-operation in the South Caucasus with the participation of all six countries of the region. It is not surprising that the idea of the 3+3 format has been also supported both in Moscow and Tehran.

On December 5, at the meeting of foreign ministers of Caspian littoral states held in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed to his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov that "Ilham Aliyev's initiative to form a regional platform of the South Caucasus 3+3 is already taking shape."

The ministerial summit also indicated that the ideas of broad intra-regional co-operation have been adopted.

Caspian dimension

Foreign ministers gathered in Moscow adopted a joint statement, which supports the intensification of the negotiation process to agree draft five-party agreements on confidence-building measures in military activities in the Caspian Sea, co-operation in maritime search and rescue, maritime scientific research and maritime transport.

Foreign ministers of Russia and Iran have come up with an initiative to create an organisation of Caspian countries, the Caspian Council. According to Lavrov, "the efficiency of our work could be improved by the creation of the Caspian Council, a forum for cooperation and dialogue without any bureaucratic schemes". Minister Abdollahian said that "a single organisation would make cooperation between Caspian littoral states more effective. To turn the Caspian Sea into a symbol of friendship, progress and development, we need to strengthen collective interaction. We need to move towards structurisation. In this context, the establishment of one secretariat or one organisation that can manage and control all areas of cooperation in the Caspian Sea is imperative."

It was also agreed to hold in Baku the meeting of the special expert group to discuss the issues related to structuring the efforts of the Caspian littoral States to strengthen regional cooperation. The group will prepare necessary documents on the functioning of the Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment in the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said that this would help the implementation of a fruitful dialogue. "The success of the expert group will make it possible to start the process of establishing the secretariat in Baku."

The co-operation of the Caspian littoral states, including the direct role of Russia and Iran in this process, only confirms that they serve, first and foremost, the goals of regional integration. The results of the Iranian president's visit to Russia show that Tehran and Moscow consider the Caspian P5 and the 3+3 platform as interrelated formats that can ensure cooperation of regional countries without external interference, mainly from the West. Amid the ongoing geopolitical confrontation in the South Caucasus, the approaches of Moscow and Tehran coincide with the interests of Azerbaijan and its strategic ally Türkiye, which also consider the domination of external powers in the region unacceptable.