Comprehensive deal signals Iran-Russia ‘strategic alliance’
Russian philosopher: Moscow statements on Iranian islands very strange
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Russia on Friday, January 17, and met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to sign the long-awaited Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement. The signing was expected to be the most important item on the President’s agenda during the trip to Moscow, and it indeed became one of the top headlines of the day. To explore why the deal is so important, IRNA spoke with Aleksandr Dugin, a Russian philosopher who is considered one of the most important advisors to Putin. In 2014, the American magazine Foreign Policy even introduced him as one of the top 100 global thinkers of the contemporary era. What follows is our translation of this interview from Farsi into English.
IRNA: Presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Vladimir Putin of Iran and Russia, respectively, met on Friday in Moscow to sign a comprehensive agreement between the two countries. Iran and Russia believe that this 25-year agreement, titled “The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement,” can significantly strengthen their bilateral relations. How do you assess this agreement and its importance?
DUGIN: This is a very important event and an agreement based on the strategic alliance between Russia and Iran, an agreement that we just had to legally formalize. Over the past decade, Russia and Iran’s relations have been on a very positive path, and our economic, political, and strategic relations have improved. We have reached an unprecedented level in the relations between the two countries.
I think that finalizing a deep political and geostrategic alliance, in the form of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement, is a great idea. We needed something like this because the global system is changing and we must consider new realities, challenges, and conditions.
If we always act together and measure our steps, we can achieve great results. Imagine a joint strategic security system; Take, for example, the benefits of setting up Russian military bases in southern Iran and allowing Iran’s presence in the Arctic from an economic and military point of view. We can create an invincible structure alongside Iran, and the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement is a very important and decisive step in this direction.
Iran and Russia have a long way to go in cooperating in three main areas: bilateral relations, regional interactions, and international interactions. Each area can be divided into sub-areas; For example, cooperation in energy, new technologies, economy, military industries, and vital defense are the most critical sub-areas in the bilateral relations between the two countries. Do you agree with this assessment?
Certainly. We must strengthen relations in all these areas so that our bilateral cooperation is defined as a unique security system, and neither Iran poses a threat to us nor Russia to Iran. This should become an important principle in the future relations between the two countries, that neither of the two countries is a threat to each other. We must help each other to make our security system inseparable.
Therefore, I think that bilateral relations should introduce the Tehran-Moscow alliance as a unique strategic entity in Eurasia, based on their traditional values and rejection of any kind of hegemony.
The key to Russia’s total political sovereignty and the key to Iran’s total geopolitical sovereignty depend precisely on these bilateral relations. The same applies to the economy and military industries. We must consider each other as part of a unique Eurasian region. Understanding this system is essential not only for Russia but also for Iran because together we can overcome almost all existing strategic problems. Our cooperation in Syria and, on a smaller scale, in Ukraine are examples of how Russia and Iran can achieve their goals by cooperating with each other.
The truly comprehensive agreement covers broader political, economic, and cultural dimensions than previous agreements. Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, has described this agreement as great and unprecedented. Why does Moscow describe this agreement with such lofty phrases?
Well, this agreement is very important for Russia, and that’s why Maria Zakharova called it a great and unprecedented agreement. It’s time to lay solid foundations for a multipolar world order. Imagine that Iran and Russia conclude a kind of strategic alliance; they can then become superpowers together, much more powerful than any other pole. I think that with Iran’s help, Russia can become the superior pole in the world, and Russia can also help Iran defend its sovereignty forever. Therefore, if we are together, we can potentially realize a lot of our common interests.
According to Russian officials, the agreement includes cooperation in the fields of energy, transportation, industry, agriculture, and culture, which can serve as a turning point in the relations between the two countries. Moreover, it apparently also includes joint investments in media cooperation, education, space programs, and joint banking payment systems, areas where both countries are under pressure due to Western sanctions. To what extent can this agreement neutralize Western sanctions against both countries?
This agreement will create many instances to establish a new geo-political institution, around which we should develop all other technical aspects of our cooperation in industry, finance, culture, media, and services. This is because we have the same enemies and challenges and we are not going to create any stress or challenge for each other. Therefore, our cooperation must be multi-faceted and very deep, a kind of strategic integration with both participants preserving and strengthening their cultural, strategic, and political identities more and more. The two countries must respect each other’s total sovereignty and, at the same time, be in agreement with each other to be able to use each other’s capacities.
Cooperation between the two countries is very important, especially regarding the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). Kazem Jalali, the Iranian ambassador to Russia, had said earlier that cooperation on this corridor, along with details about its implementation, was to be included in the comprehensive agreement. Why is the INSTC so important and what fruits can it yield for Iran and Russia after its complete realization?
The North-South Corridor project is a very important geo-political issue, so I completely agree with Mr. Jalali that this corridor is of vital importance for both countries. I must again draw attention to the fact that Iran and Russia are both suffering from Western sanctions. We must break down this wall of sanctions, and the North-South Corridor can greatly help with this problem; for example, Russia can access the open waters through Bandar Abbas and other Iranian ports. Iran can also access the northern world and the Arctic through this corridor. Therefore, it can create great opportunities for both countries.
I think that we can readjust the geo-economic balance in Eurasia, and by doing so, the interests of Iran and Russia will be fulfilled and then some. We in Russia have made a lot of efforts to reach an agreement with Iran on the INSTC, which, of course, I cannot explain in detail, but there was a lot of tension inside Russia about this corridor, but we finally got our wish.
In recent months, some media outlets have addressed issues that highlight the different views between the two countries. Are there serious disagreements between the two countries? What is the solution to resolve these disagreements?
If we can imagine what great power will be realized by the two countries after the joint strategic partnership agreement, then we can easily understand that there are people in the world who do not like this development at all and will even try to destroy it in the future.
For example, sometimes very strange statements are made by our Foreign Ministry regarding the islands belonging to Iran, and on the other hand, anti-Russian statements are sometimes made in Iran. Not to mention actions taken outside the two countries that try to prevent the unity of the two.
First and foremost, there are Western countries that hate this project. We must understand that the enemy has already built networks within and without our society and is trying to destroy this agreement. We in Russia still have a strong liberal lobby, and I am quite sure that something similar exists in Iran. They use various arguments, sometimes religious and sometimes nationalist, to weaken the relations between the two countries.
But the fact that this agreement is signed is evidence that we have been able to overcome the obstacles. There are no problems between Russia and Iran, but if our enemies hope that they can create discord between us and put Iran and Russia against each other, it will be a great detriment to both countries. The presidents of the two countries understand this very well.