عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran’s Scathing Criticism of Russia May Undermine Their ‘Strategic’ Relationship

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow on December 7. (Kremlin)
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow on December 7. (Kremlin)
TT
TT

Iran’s Scathing Criticism of Russia May Undermine Their ‘Strategic’ Relationship

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow on December 7. (Kremlin)
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow on December 7. (Kremlin)

Close associates of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have made unprecedented criticism against Moscow over a recent joint Arab-Russian ministerial statement that reiterates a demand on Tehran to peacefully resolve the dispute over the Iran-occupied Emirati islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb.

Issued last week, the statement by Arab foreign ministers and Russian FM Sergei Lavrov called for resolving the dispute through dialogue or international arbitration.

The Iranian foreign ministry filed a complaint to Moscow over the demand, which may undermine the two countries’ “strategic” relations.

Criticism poured in from MPs and media that support Iran’s strategy of turning east, to China and Russia in specific.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Tehran had protested to Moscow in the “clearest of phrases” and “highest levels.”

Iran will not tolerate any harm that comes to its territorial sovereignty, he added.

Moreover, he deemed the proposals of the Arab-Russian statement to be a “violation of international and the United Nations Charter.”

Khamenei’s foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati slammed Moscow over the statement.

He lamented the “unfortunate” positions of the Russian foreign ministry, which he said “harm Moscow’s standing.”

He warned that the “strategic relations” that were forged between Russia and Iran “were not easily conceived and the interests of both parties must be taken into account.”

Iran summoned Russia's charge d’affaires over the statement, state media reported Sunday.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said the Russian envoy was summoned on Saturday and handed a note to deliver to Moscow in which Tehran protested the statement the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum issued in Morocco.

Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his Russian counterpart over the phone that “respecting countries’ sovereignty and integrity is among basic principles in the ties between nations,” IRNA said in a separate report.

This marked the second time this year that Iran has called for a Russian envoy in protest over comments on the disputed islands. Tehran summoned the Russian ambassador in July over a similar statement.

The diplomatic spat is a rare occurrence between the two countries that have deepened their ties since Moscow invaded Ukraine, with Iran supplying Russia with killer drones that have been used to devastating effect there. Both countries have also been strong backers of President Bashar Assad in Syria’s war.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

NATO and Ukraine to Hold Emergency Talks after Russia’s Attack with New Hypersonic Missile

A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

NATO and Ukraine to Hold Emergency Talks after Russia’s Attack with New Hypersonic Missile

A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)

NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war.

The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday, and “taking on very dramatic dimensions.”

Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session as security was tightened following Thursday's Russian strike on a military facility in the city of Dnipro.

In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech to his nation that the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of US and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

Putin said Western air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov kept up Russia's bellicose tone on Friday, blaming “the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries” in supplying weapons to Ukraine to strike Russia.

"The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns were not taken into account have also been quite clearly outlined," he said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, widely seen as having the warmest relations with the Kremlin in the European Union, echoed Moscow's talking points, suggesting the use of US-supplied weapons in Ukraine likely requires direct American involvement.

“These are rockets that are fired and then guided to a target via an electronic system, which requires the world’s most advanced technology and satellite communications capability,” Orban said on state radio. “There is a strong assumption ... that these missiles cannot be guided without the assistance of American personnel.”

Orban cautioned against underestimating Russia’s responses, emphasizing that the country’s recent modifications to its nuclear deployment doctrine should not be dismissed as a “bluff.” “It’s not a trick... there will be consequences,” he said.

Separately in Kyiv, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called Thursday's missile strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe.”

At a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Lipavský also expressed his full support for delivering the necessary additional air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks.”

He underlined that the Czech Republic will impose no limits on the use of its weapons and equipment given to Ukraine.

Three lawmakers from Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, confirmed that Friday's previously scheduled session was called off due to the ongoing threat of Russian missiles targeting government buildings in central Kyiv.

In addition, there also was a recommendation to limit the work of all commercial offices and nongovernmental organizations "in that perimeter, and local residents were warned of the increased threat,” said lawmaker Mykyta Poturaiev, who added this is not the first time such a threat has been received.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office continued to work in compliance with standard security measures, a spokesperson said.

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the Oreshnik missile, whose name in Russian means “hazelnut tree,” was fired from the Kapustin Yar 4th Missile Test Range in Russia’s Astrakhan region, and flew 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. The missile had six nonnuclear warheads each carrying six submunitions and reached a spoeed of Mach 11, it said.

Test launches of a similar missile were conducted in October 2023 and June 2024, the directorate said. The Pentagon confirmed the missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.

Thursday's attack struck the Pivdenmash plant that built ICBMs when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. The military facility is located about 4 miles (6 1/2 kilometers) southwest of the center of Dnipro, a city of about 1 million that is Ukraine’s fourth-largest and a key hub for military supplies and humanitarian aid, and is home to one of the country’s largest hospitals for treating wounded soldiers from the front before their transfer to Kyiv or abroad.

The stricken area was cordoned off and out of public view. With no fatalities reported from the attack, Dnipro residents resorted to dark humor on social media, mostly focused on the missile’s name, Oreshnik.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia struck a residential district of Sumy overnight with Iranian-designed Shahed drones, killing two people and injuring 13, the regional administration said..

Ukraine’s Suspilne media, quoting Sumy regional head Volodymyr Artiukh, said the drones were stuffed with shrapnel elements. “These weapons are used to destroy people, not to destroy objects,” said Artiukh, according to Suspilne.