Iran and Russia today signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation and are ready to work together to counter threats in the region, the Russian Defence Minister, Army General Sergei Shoigu announced today, after arriving in Iran on an official visit for talks with the Minister of Defence and the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Brigadier-General Hossein Dehghani.
"We call for long-term and multi-faceted cooperation with Tehran. Today’s signing of an inter-governmental agreement on military cooperation is a major step along these lines. A theoretical basis for interaction in the military sphere has been created. We welcome the Iranian leadership’s drive for the comprehensive extension of ties with Russia, among other things in the defense sphere," said Shoigu.
"We have common challenges and threats in the region which may be countered only by joint efforts," RIA Novosti cited the Russian defense minister. Shoigu recalled that his meeting last year with his Iranian counterpart in Moscow helped to lay the foundation for boosting bilateral military and technical cooperation.
The Defense Minister of the RF proposed discussing the prospects of bilateral cooperation as part of the document and prioritize the practical steps which the sides are due to take already in the near future.
Shoigu praised Iran's efforts in the fight against global terrorism: "We welcome Tehran’s wish for fair cooperation on Afghanistan including in the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Tehran has taken serious steps towards counteracting drug trafficking from Afghanistan’s territory," Shoigu said, noting that cooperation between the military agencies of Russia and Iran is becoming of particular importance.
The experts Michael Khodarenok and Vladislav Shurigin spoke about the prospects of military cooperation between Iran and Russia in terms of the sanctions imposed by the West on both countries, as well as confronting the threat in the region.
The editor-in-chief of "Military-Industrial Courier" and the magazine "Aerospace Defense", Michael Khodarenok, told the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza that military-technical cooperation with Iran will gain new impetus for its development.
"Details of the signed documents are still unknown, as for what they say, but I think that we are talking about deliveries of Russian weapons and military equipment to Iran. What kind of equipment and how many, I guess, we will know soon. Common threats in the region really exist and are connected, of course, with "Islamic State". This state in its present form is just a detonator of the Middle East, and if it will blow up at full capacity, everyone will be caught it - the Caucasus, and Russia's North Caucasus and Russia as a whole," the expert said, stressing that the situation there is more than serious."Apparently, aspects related to the supply of arms and military equipment has been discussed as well. It is obvious that the Iranian side has voiced some suggestions. How satisfied they will be with the Russian military–industrial complex, I think we will know soon. How the West will react is already known: negatively. And the fact that both sides are under sanctions, well, probably when they have discussed the aspects of military-technical and other cooperation, they already proceeded from the view that things can't get any worse.Apparently, questions were discussed from this point of view," Michael Khodarenok said. The editor-in-chief of the "Journalistic Truth" paper, Vladislav Shurigin, noted in a comment to Vestnik Kavkaza that the main issue in the region is the continued aggression, or more precisely - the expansion of Islamic State's space, and it is clear that this is the main threat to Iran and other countries in the region. "Also, the threat from the US, which is not abandoning its attempts to destabilize the situation in Iran, continues to remain and now the US is actively supporting the militants. In this case, Iran is extremely interested in access to the modern weaponry that Russia produces. Russia, of course, is interested, firstly, in finding a powerful ally in the region, and secondly, I do not exclude that Russia has plans to create additional bases. And in this case, of course, the interest in Iran is very high," the expert said.As for the specific weapons which might interest Iran, the expert suggested that, first of all, the Iranian military has an interest in access to Russian air defense systems: "A powerful weapon, which before was, let's say, a stumbling block. Russia was forced under former President Medvedev to proceed in the context of Europe and refuse deliveries to Iran of the S-300. I think that now this issue will be completely different. Accordingly, there are, I think, plans for joint development of weapons. Because Iran is a party which produces weapons and has a certain level of production, including, for example, drones, which are quite interesting for Russia. So I think the broadest possible cooperation is planned," Vladislav Shurigin suggested. As for the possible reaction of the West, the analyst said: "To a certain extent, this is an administrative step that shows the West that Russia does not pay attention to the sanctions, and more than that, the pressure on Russia has led to the opposite effect, it brings the nations under the sanctions closer, which certainly will be extremely painful fo the West.""Details of the signed documents are still unknown, as for what they say, but I think that we are talking about deliveries of Russian weapons and military equipment to Iran. What kind of equipment and how many, I guess, we will know soon. Common threats in the region really exist and are connected, of course, with "Islamic State". This state in its present form is just a detonator of the Middle East, and if it will blow up at full capacity, everyone will be caught it - the Caucasus, and Russia's North Caucasus and Russia as a whole," the expert said, stressing that the situation there is more than serious.
"Apparently, aspects related to the supply of arms and military equipment has been discussed as well. It is obvious that the Iranian side has voiced some suggestions. How satisfied they will be with the Russian military–industrial complex, I think we will know soon. How the West will react is already known: negatively. And the fact that both sides are under sanctions, well, probably when they have discussed the aspects of military-technical and other cooperation, they already proceeded from the view that things can't get any worse. Apparently, questions were discussed from this point of view," Michael Khodarenok said.
The editor-in-chief of the "Journalistic Truth" paper, Vladislav Shurigin, noted in a comment to Vestnik Kavkaza that the main issue in the region is the continued aggression, or more precisely - the expansion of Islamic State's space, and it is clear that this is the main threat to Iran and other countries in the region.
"Also, the threat from the US, which is not abandoning its attempts to destabilize the situation in Iran, continues to remain and now the US is actively supporting the militants. In this case, Iran is extremely interested in access to the modern weaponry that Russia produces. Russia, of course, is interested, firstly, in finding a powerful ally in the region, and secondly, I do not exclude that Russia has plans to create additional bases. And in this case, of course, the interest in Iran is very high," the expert said.
As for the specific weapons which might interest Iran, the expert suggested that, first of all, the Iranian military has an interest in access to Russian air defense systems: "A powerful weapon, which before was, let's say, a stumbling block. Russia was forced under former President Medvedev to proceed in the context of Europe and refuse deliveries to Iran of the S-300. I think that now this issue will be completely different. Accordingly, there are, I think, plans for joint development of weapons. Because Iran is a party which produces weapons and has a certain level of production, including, for example, drones, which are quite interesting for Russia. So I think the broadest possible cooperation is planned," - Vladislav Shurigin suggested.
As for the possible reaction of the West, the analyst said: "To a certain extent, this is an administrative step that shows the West that Russia does not pay attention to the sanctions, and more than that, the pressure on Russia has led to the opposite effect, it brings the nations under the sanctions closer, which certainly will be extremely painful fo the West."
