Russia’s New Foreign Policy to Focus on Ending Western ‘Monopoly’

This handout photograph taken and released on February 10, 2023 by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivering a speech during the celebration of the Diplomats' Day in Moscow. (Handout / Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on February 10, 2023 by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivering a speech during the celebration of the Diplomats' Day in Moscow. (Handout / Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
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Russia’s New Foreign Policy to Focus on Ending Western ‘Monopoly’

This handout photograph taken and released on February 10, 2023 by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivering a speech during the celebration of the Diplomats' Day in Moscow. (Handout / Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on February 10, 2023 by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivering a speech during the celebration of the Diplomats' Day in Moscow. (Handout / Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow would focus on ending what he called a Western "monopoly" over global affairs as part of a new foreign policy, accusing the West of suppressing rival centers of power.

Russian state media reported last week that President Vladimir Putin was set to approve a new foreign policy, as relations with the West sink to historic lows over the war in Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions.

"The Anglo-Saxons - and the rest of the collective West, unquestioningly submitting to them - seek to impose their dictates on world affairs at any cost," Lavrov told lawmakers in Russia's State Duma.

"Our renewed foreign policy concept will focus on the need to end the West's monopoly on shaping the framework of international life, which in the future must be determined not in its egoistic interests but on a fair, universal balance of interests."

The Kremlin has often accused Western countries, led by the "Anglo-Saxon" United States and Britain, of trying to dominate global politics and meddle in others' affairs, while seeking to suppress rising powers in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Western countries say Russia has made itself a global pariah by invading a peaceful neighbor and that Russian-backed groups have interfered in Western elections - something that Yevgeny Prigozhin, a high-profile ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, now freely acknowledges.



Iran's IRGC Detains Two Britons on Spying Charges

Traffic flows through a congested highway in Tehran on January 18, 2025. (AFP)
Traffic flows through a congested highway in Tehran on January 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Iran's IRGC Detains Two Britons on Spying Charges

Traffic flows through a congested highway in Tehran on January 18, 2025. (AFP)
Traffic flows through a congested highway in Tehran on January 18, 2025. (AFP)

Iranian authorities said Tuesday that a British couple, arrested last month by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the country’s southeast, have been charged with espionage and accused of links to Western intelligence services.

Iran’s Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said Craig and Lindsay Foreman had entered Iran “posing as tourists” and gathered information before their arrest in Kerman province.

Jahangir also said the pair had been held by the IRGC “over espionage charges.”

The Foremans “had gathered information from several provinces” and were found to be “cooperating with covert institutions linked to the intelligence services of hostile and Western countries,” the spokesman said, according to AFP.

According to the judiciary’s Mizan Online website, the Kerman judiciary chief Ebrahim Hamidi said the couple’s links to foreign intelligence services “has been confirmed.”

BBC said the couple, in their early 50s, were on a motorbike trip around the world when they were detained in January.

Social media posts show the duo crossed into Iran from Armenia in December and were gradually making their way toward Australia.

On Friday, Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed that it was “providing consular assistance to two British nationals detained in Iran” and was in contact with Iranian authorities.

Last Saturday, the couple’s family said they were engaging with relevant authorities to ensure the pair's well-being and safe return home.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported last week that British Ambassador Hugo Shorter met with the couple at the Kerman prosecutor’s office.

The agency also published a photo of the meeting, with the couple’s faces blurred.

A statement issued by the British Foreign Office on their family's behalf said: “This unexpected turn of events has caused significant concern for our entire family, and we are deeply focused on ensuring their safety and wellbeing during this trying time.”

The family called it a “distressing situation,” adding: “We are actively engaging with the British government and relevant authorities, working diligently to navigate the complexities of this matter.”

The IRGC have arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals in recent years, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.

Human rights groups and some Western countries have accused Iran of trying to win concessions from other nations through arrests on security charges that may have been trumped up. Tehran denies such accusations.

In January 2023, Iran announced the execution of British-Iranian dual citizen Alireza Akbari, prompting outrage among Western governments including Britain, which called it “barbaric.”