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Tehran Urges Moscow to Accelerate Efforts to Reduce Impact of Dollar

Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Russia's Presidential Aide Igor Levitin in Tehran, Iran, April 9, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Russia's Presidential Aide Igor Levitin in Tehran, Iran, April 9, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
    London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Tehran Urges Moscow to Accelerate Efforts to Reduce Impact of Dollar

Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Russia's Presidential Aide Igor Levitin in Tehran, Iran, April 9, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Russia's Presidential Aide Igor Levitin in Tehran, Iran, April 9, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani urged Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special assistant, Igor Levitin, to speed up the path of reducing the influence of the dollar in economic exchanges.

During a meeting with Levitin in Tehran, Shamkhani stated that “the path towards reducing the influence of the dollar in regional and international economic transactions, which has been joined by many countries, will lead to undermining the West's domination over the global economy to the lowest possible level.”

According to the official news agency IRNA, Shamkhani mentioned finalized initiatives between Russia and Iran regarding financial and banking exchanges with the aim of funding joint projects.

He described this as “an effective model in thwarting the West's illegal sanctions on both countries.”

The officials also discussed the application of agreements in various economic and banking fields, including the implementation of the North-South Transport Corridor project.

They also agreed on Russian investment in the remaining part of the road in northern Iran.

Shamkhani expressed Iran's satisfaction with the growing economic cooperation between Tehran and Moscow. He emphasized the need to activate mechanisms to accelerate the pace of implementing economic projects between the two countries.

During Levitin's visit to Iran last January, the two countries agreed that the remaining part of the North-South strategic corridor, in Iran’s northern Rasht-Astara route, will be built with the direct investment of Russia.

The North-South Transport Corridor is a network for moving freight between Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and other countries in Asia and Europe.

In his meeting with Shamkhani, Levitin presented a report on the latest developments related to commercial, banking, and joint economic projects.

“Moscow is ready to implement joint plans and projects as soon as possible, especially in the field of transit and investments in various economic sectors in Iran, including steel, oil, and petrochemicals,” said Levitin.

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Latest North Korean Ship Can Carry Dozens of Missiles, Analysts Say 

In this photo provided Thursday, March 27, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center left in a black jacket, stands by what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone at an undisclosed location in North Korea, earlier this week. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided Thursday, March 27, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center left in a black jacket, stands by what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone at an undisclosed location in North Korea, earlier this week. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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Latest North Korean Ship Can Carry Dozens of Missiles, Analysts Say 

In this photo provided Thursday, March 27, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center left in a black jacket, stands by what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone at an undisclosed location in North Korea, earlier this week. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided Thursday, March 27, 2025, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center left in a black jacket, stands by what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone at an undisclosed location in North Korea, earlier this week. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea's new class of warship can accommodate dozens of vertical launch cells to carry missiles its military has already developed, analysis of a satellite image showed, a step that would give its navy more punch and create an export opportunity.

Little is known about the unnamed class of ships being built in the Chongjin and Nampo shipyards. In December, South Korea's military said they would displace about 4,000 tons, somewhat less than half the size of a US Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

Images captured of the ship in Nampo in the last week of March, however, show cavities on its deck large enough to hold more than 50 missiles, depending on their type, said researcher Jeffrey Lewis.

"They're pretty big cavities," said Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California.

"I would think 32 (missiles) in front and a few fewer in the back would be a very reasonable number. Or it could be a much smaller number of ballistic missiles."

Vertical launch systems (VLS) allow ships to carry more missiles, and make launching and reloading easier.

Lewis said North Korea had developed several different types of missile that would be compatible with VLS cells, which Pyongyang had not fielded on any previous surface ship.

Such types include anti-ship cruise missiles, land attack cruise missiles, air defense missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, he added.

The new ships' armament seemed to hew close to South Korean navy standards, said Euan Graham, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

"I think we have to take conventional enhancements seriously, because North Korea has limited resources and has invested in nuclear weapons to close the deterrence gap with the Republic of Korea and United States," he added.

"So it must fit within their concept of operations, even if the concept appears odd to us."

North Korean state media released first photos of the ship in December, when leader Kim Jong Un conducted an inspection.

He later made several more visits to the shipyards, where the country said as recently as early March it was also building its first nuclear-powered submarine.

"Overwhelmingly powerful warships must serve as a strong nuclear deterrent against hostile forces' habitual 'gunboat diplomacy,'" state media reported Kim as saying.

South Korea's national defense ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lewis said compatibility with a VLS would make the weapons even more attractive as exports for countries that are cut off from, or cannot afford, other arms suppliers.

"If you were interested in buying North Korean anti-ship missiles because they were cheap, it would be awfully nice if they came in a tested VLS system," he said.

"Quantity has a quality all its own. Those North Korean missiles might not be as good as their Russian counterparts, but they are much, much cheaper."

The new ships, although more advanced than others in the North Korean fleet, may not make much of a difference in conflict, said Collin Koh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

Their locations are well-known, they cannot operate far from North Korean shores and are decades behind the technology in South Korean and US warships.

But they show Pyongyang is serious about investments to improve its navy, he said.

"The North Korean navy is largely traditionally a coastal defense navy," he said. "So they are likely trying to reinvigorate the fleet."

Last year Kim stressed the importance of strengthening North Korea's navy. It recently finished fitting out its latest Sinpo-C ballistic missile submarine, according to 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea monitoring program.