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New York Post
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Rift emerges between allies Russia and Iran over $1.75B weapons deal, Putin's lack of support for Tehran
A rift is reportedly emerging between allies Russia and Iran, after Tehran feels it's gotten shortchanged in strongman Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine. Moscow inked a $1.75 billion weapons deal with the Islamic Republic in 2023 — called at the time 'a covert partnership' — to get the designs to domestically produce Iran's infamous Shahed drones, which it had been importing since launching its full-scale invasion on Ukraine a year earlier. 4 Putin inked a deal with Iran in 2023 to get the designs for its Shahed drones. MIKHAIL METZEL/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA/Shutterstock But Tehran has been growing increasingly frustrated with the little backing it's received from Russia since, CNN reported, citing a Western intelligence source. The resentment hit a high note during the Islamic Republic's 12-day war with Israel in June, when Tehran was expecting more than just words from its ally. 4 At the start of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia paid as much as $200,000 for just one of these Iranian drones. NurPhoto via Getty Images Russian officials condemned Israel's attacked as 'unprovoked and unacceptable' and offered to mediate the conflict — but did not provide any military support to Iran, despite the two countries' partnership. Left to fend for itself, the Iranian regime was badly battered and weakened during the conflict. The Jewish state carried out numerous devastating aerial strikes on the Islamic Republic and its nuclear facilities, killing more than 30 Iranian commanders, at least 11 of the regime's top nuclear masterminds and sending the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei into hiding. 4 The unmanned drones are sometimes refered to as 'kamikaze' drones because they self-destruct after reaching their target. Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images It showed Russia's 'purely transactional and utilitarian nature,' the intelligence official told the outlet. 'This explicit disengagement demonstrates that Russia never intervenes beyond its immediate interests, even when a partner – here an essential supplier of drones – is attacked,' they said. The Shahed drones — also referred to as kamikaze drones — have since become the cornerstone of Moscow's war machine, when hundreds of are often launched on Ukraine in a single evening. 4 Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly feels cheated from his deal with Putin. LEADER OFFICE/AFP via Getty Images To add insult to injury, Putin's men have taken Tehran's designs and developed better, cheaper versions — and failed to make some of its payments to Iran because of the Western sanctions placed on the Kremlin. It is unclear how much Moscow has yet to pay its counterpart toward the deal. Russia has also modernized the drones to make them more lethal and harder to bring down, according to Ukraine, leaving Tehran in the dark about the developments. It's also brought down the cost from $200,000 for one Shahed drone — to just $70,000. Intelligence officials believe as much as 90% of Shahed production is now done inside Russia, and satellite images show the largest drone factory — in Alabuga, 600 miles east of Moscow — is continuing to expand.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Russia secondary sanctions still on track for Friday after Putin, Witkoff meeting
WASHINGTON — US sanctions targeting nations that buy Russian oil will kick in on Friday after Vladimir Putin refused to end his invasion of Ukraine by President Trump's deadline, a senior White House official said following direct talks between Washington and Moscow on Wednesday. Following a three-hour meeting between Putin and Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Kremlin said it wanted to continue talking — which Trump has publicly suspected of being a strategy to 'tap along' his administration. 'The Russians are eager to continue engaging with the United States,' the US official said in a statement, adding: 'The secondary sanctions are still expected to be implemented on Friday.' Advertisement US sanctions targeting nations that buy Russian oil will kick in on Friday after Vladimir Putin refused to end his invasion of Ukraine by President Trump's deadline, following direct talks between Washington and Moscow on Wednesday. GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA/Shutterstock The official also said Witkoff's discussion with Putin 'went well.' Wednesday marked the first time the parties had met for such talks since April, when it became evident little progress was being made toward an end to Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II.
New York Post
12-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Putin backs ‘zero enrichment' for Iran's nuclear capabilities: Report
Russian strongman Vladimir Putin backs a nuclear deal with Iran in which the country is unable to enrich uranium. Putin privately communicated his stance to President Trump and Iranian officials, sources told Axios. Iran has long insisted it should retain the ability to enrich uranium, while both the US and Israel have demanded the Islamic Republic completely abandon its enrichment capabilities — the biggest hurdle in striking a deal. Advertisement 'Putin would support zero enrichment. He encouraged the Iranians to work towards that in order to make negotiations with the Americans more favorable. The Iranians said they won't consider it,' one European official with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios. 3 Putin has reportedly told both the US and Iran in private that a deal should not allow Tehran to enrich uranium. MIKHAIL METZEL/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock Iran rejected such limitations. Advertisement 'In any negotiated solution, the rights of the Iranian people on the nuclear issue, including the right to enrichment, must be respected,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told diplomats in Tehran Saturday. 'We will not have any agreement in which enrichment is not included.' 3 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Saturday Iran has a right to enrichment. via REUTERS Russia walks a diplomatic tightrope in the Middle East, maintaining warm relations with Israel even as it deepens military and economic cooperation with Iran. Advertisement The reports stand in stark contrast to the views the Kremlin has adopted publicly as Iran's main backer on the nuclear issue. No later than this week, Moscow's top diplomat said Russia was ready to refill Iran's depleted uranium stocks. And last month, Putin said he had sent 200 Russian experts to work at an Iranian nuclear plant. 3 Tehran and Washington had been engaged in talks since April, but those were disrupted by the attacks. Getty Images Tehran and Washington had been engaged in talks since April, but those efforts were disrupted when Israel launched a surprise June 13 attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, just two days before a planned meeting in Oman, and 61 days after US President Donald Trump set a 60-day deadline for talks. Advertisement Araghchi meanwhile, says Tehran is open to new talks on a deal. 'We are examining its timing, its location, its form, its ingredients, the assurances it requires' he said. With wires
Newsweek
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
The Limits of the New Anti-Western Axis
Last month's conflict between Israel and Iran has only just concluded, but its results are already being felt throughout the Middle East—and beyond. As a result of Israel's military offensive, Iran's nuclear program has been set back substantially. And, following months of strategic drift in Gaza, the Jewish state's decisive campaign against the Islamic Republic has helped it rebuild regional deterrence. The United States, meanwhile, has finally demonstrated that it is committed to preventing Iran from going nuclear by any means necessary. The region is taking notice; for instance, prospects for an expansion of the Abraham Accords are now the brightest they have been in years. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Nov. 23, 2015. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Nov. 23, 2015. ALEXEI DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images But the conflict that's already being billed by the White House as the "12-day war" is also notable for what didn't happen. Despite the dire predictions of many, Israel's campaign against Iran's nuclear program (and America's assistance to it) didn't lead either Russia or the People's Republic of China (PRC) to wade into the fray in defense of the Islamic Republic, generating a wider war. To be sure, both Moscow and Beijing offered up the proper platitudes. Russian President Vladimir Putin decried Israel's bombing campaign, and his Foreign Ministry issued a formal statement condemning it. Officials in Beijing did much the same, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi mounting a spirited defense of Iran's "sovereignty" in the face of Israel's "illegal" bombings. Beyond that, however, neither Beijing nor Moscow did anything of substance. Russia did not provide Iran with key battlefield technology, such as air defense components, that could have been used to blunt the effectiveness of Israel's air campaign. Similarly, China did not roll out its prodigious electronic warfare capabilities to better protect Tehran, despite the sprawling quarter century, $400 billion strategic pact codified between the two countries back in 2021. The decision of both countries to sit out the conflict tells us a great deal about the extent of their trilateral partnership with Iran. That's notable, because their anti-Western alliance has seemed positively robust up to now. Ukraine provides a case in point. Over the past two years, Iran has given Russia key drone technology and other battlefield materiel that the Kremlin has used to devastating effect against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. China, meanwhile, has provided extensive support to Russia's defense industry as part of the "no limits" partnership between the two countries, making it a "decisive enabler" of Moscow's ongoing aggression against its western neighbor. They have worked together in other ways as well. Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing have coordinated under the auspices of forums like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Moscow- and Beijing-run security bloc designed to shape security affairs in Eurasia. All three have worked closely in the field of information warfare, parroting each other's false narratives on everything from COVID-19 to Western imperialism. And all of them have worked diligently to deepen their military ties, culminating in trilateral naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year. In the process, this collaboration has raised worries that a new strategic axis is now working to remake the world order in an anti-Western, authoritarian direction. The recent conflict over Iran's nuclear program, though, tells a somewhat different story. But why, precisely? The explanations have varied. Some experts, like the Washington Institute's Anna Borshchevskaya, have noted that Moscow benefits when international attention is diverted, thereby giving it greater freedom of action in its own geopolitical neighborhood—most immediately, against Ukraine. The same logic undoubtedly also holds true for the PRC, which harbors clear—and growing—desires over Taiwan. Or maybe it's because, as Zineb Riboua of the Hudson Institute has pointed out, a weakened Islamic Republic is of limited utility to Moscow and Beijing. After all, now that the Iranian regime's military leadership has been decimated and its regional position profoundly eroded, courtesy of Israel, Tehran is far less useful as a strategic partner. As a result, both countries seem to have thought better of getting involved in something that was, quintessentially, Iran's fight. Whatever the reasons, the most recent Mideast war has succeeded in laying bare the limits of today's emerging axis of authoritarians. It's now up to the United States and its international partners to exploit those shortcomings. Ilan Berman is senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
United News of India
05-06-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Trump and Putin discuss Ukraine situation, Istanbul talks in 70-min phone call
Moscow/Washington, June 5 (UNI) US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the situation in the Middle East in a telephonic conversation lasting 70 minutes on Wednesday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said. T he conversation began with the discussion of the situation around Ukraine, and Putin told Trump in detail about the results of the second round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, Ushakov said, adding that the presidents also discussed the situation in the Middle East. The telephonic conversation lasted 70 minutes, Ushakov said. "About an hour ago, our president's fourth telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump ended. This conversation this time lasted about 1 hour and 10 minutes," Ushakov told reporters. Both presidents described their exchange as positive and productive, and confirmed readiness to stay in constant contact with each other, Ushakov added. "On the eve of this conversation, telephone conversations took place between various representatives of Russia and the United States. And during these conversations, it was agreed that in the current situation, immediately after these terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime and following the results of the second round of Istanbul talks, it would be worthwhile to hold a telephone conversation between the leaders. "This was agreed upon, and the leaders then gave the appropriate commands to both the administration in Washington and our team here to specifically agree on the time," Ushakov said. UNI/SPUTNIK ANV SSP
