As Kyiv Post reported earlier, Russia has allegedly transferred Iskander and Murmansk-BN ballistic missile systems to Tehran after Iran threatened to strike Israel in retaliation for the killing of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Iran, which has supplied Russia with military aid including hundreds of Shahed kamikaze drones for Moscow’s war on Ukraine, has now asked for support from the Kremlin. According to the New York Times Tehran took the opportunity presented by this week’s visit of Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, to provide much needed advanced air defense systems as the likelihood of war with Israel escalates.
Shoigu met with newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, Secretary of Iran’s National Security Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian, as well as Chief of the General Staff Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who is believed to be in charge of plans for attacks on Israel.
Following the meetings, Shoigu said that Russia is “ready for full cooperation with Iran on regional issues,” while Bagheri said relations between the countries were “deep, long-term and strategic,” adding that they will only expand under Iran’s new leadership.
According to the NYT, citing two Iranian officials familiar with military planning, including a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Russia has already begun to supply modern radars and air defense systems. This despite the historically close economic and cultural ties with Israel resulting from its large of Russian Jewish population. Analysts believe Moscow could not reject Tehran’s appeals as it is increasingly relying on Iranian along with North Korean military support for its war against Ukraine.
This is the situation that US foreign policy under Biden has left us with.
What would you have done differently?
Halt any arms shipments to Israel around November 23rd of last year until commit to peace talks, or as soon as it became apparent the hostages were a red hearing, which was very early. I would have have condemned their colonial, genocidal mission unequivocally. I would have worked with the strongest democracy in the region and one of our most important strategic allies, Turkey, to find a way to support the Palestinian people in re-engaging in their democratic process.
I would have joined other nations like Ireland and Spain in calling out the wrong doing that Israel is and has been clearly engaging in. I would have set up a situation, early on, for the Palestinian people to hold elections, something the Israelli government have been working to prevent for over a decade. Early in this process, Hamas was deeply unpopular among Palestinians. Thats not the case any more, largely due to Israel. And if the Palestinian people elect Hamas (again), c’est la vie. Then they are the elected representative government of Palestine and Israel needs to work with them.
The United States has had all the leverage it ever needed to stop this situation right in its tracks as soon as it was obvious that Israel was acting in bad faith to ethnically cleanse the remaining Palestinian lands they’ve desired. We still have that leverage this very moment. This is important because as much as people want Democrats to be the “good guys” in this situation, they have not been. Its an unwillingness on the part of the American executive branch to engage this leverage. To call the situation in Palestine as unintentional on the part of the US is utterly disingenuous. Israel has not shown them selves to be a good partner in the region. They lied to us in 2002 when Netanyahu testified before congress that Iraq was pursuing WMD’s. They’ve using the US to work towards a regional conflict for decades.
I’m not sure Russia has many left, Ukraine has been fucking them up left right and centre. Besides, if Iran is concerned about the safety of their skies, they shouldn’t go poking the Jewish hornet’s nest.
They are sustaining support for the poor people of Palestine - this is highly noble.
And yes, of course, Russia has expended a lot of equipment in the war, but their production lines are up and running constantly. I imagine it will not be impossible to get what they need.