It has been announced from Moscow that there will be military collaboration with Teheran from 18 October

Russia announces future military cooperation with Iran

photo_camera AFP/DIMITAR DILKOFF - A rocket launched from a Pantsir-S air defence system at the Ashuluk military base during the "Caucasus-2020" military exercises bringing together troops from China, Iran, Pakistan and Myanmar, together with former Soviet Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus

Operation Kavkaz-2020 involving Iranian naval vessels began this Monday as a preliminary announcement of what will be next month's joint official cooperation between Russia and Iran in the military field.  

These operations, christened "Caucasus-2020", will involve more than 80,000 people. During the days, which are scheduled to last until 26 September, training sessions, manoeuvres with combat units, logistical and technical support, and exhibitions by air defence units, the navy, the national guard and the emergency ministry will be held. 

The invited national armies taking part in the manoeuvres are those of Armenia, Belarus, China, Myanmar and Pakistan. The representatives of Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka are present as observers. 

It seems that "special attention will be paid to the fight against cruise missiles and drones", the spokesmen for the manoeuvres stated to various media. Currently 250 tanks, 450 infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers and 200 artillery and missile systems are involved. 

The manoeuvres of the troops will be carried out in the Southern Military District of Russia and in the Black and Caspian Seas, namely in the internal ranges of the Southern Military District Prudboy, Ashuluk, Kapustin Yar, as well as in the land air ranges of Arzgir and Kopanskaya. 

Caucaso 2020
Iran's presence poses a challenge to the United States

This invitation to Iran as an observer and participant in the manoeuvres triggers a certain amount of discomfort within the United States. Some media report that this is "a real challenge", particularly after the reinstatement of sanctions on Iran.  

The Kremlin has announced military co-operation with the Iranian regime when the international arms embargo expires on 18 October. The deputy head of the foreign affairs committee of the Council of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Dzhabarov, stated on Monday that Moscow will continue with technical-military cooperation with Iran, despite Washington's executive order allowing it to punish foreign states that fail to comply with the unilateral re-establishment of sanctions. 

"Let them impose sanctions, one more, one less... I believe that our cooperation with Iran will continue and I hope that these sanctions will not affect it", declared Dzhabarov. The Foreign Affairs Committee representative listed the sanctions they face in relation to Iran: "On the one hand there are UN Security Council sanctions, with which compliance is mandatory. And then there are sanctions by a state, in this case the United States, which thinks, for an unclear reason, that they are even higher than UN Security Council sanctions". 

When 18 September comes, the UN Security Council will be obliged to comply with Resolution 2231 lifting the arms embargo and the latest political and economic sanctions against Iran (some have already been gradually lifted since 2015).  

The Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Riabkov, announced that "new prospects will open up for us in terms of military cooperation with Iran". The question of what kind of cooperation they will have and in what direction their new objectives will be aimed "remains to be seen", the deputy minister stated. 

Caucaso 2020
United States moves ahead with sanctions on Iran and its allies

On 19 September the US government considered that all the international sanctions against Iran, lifted in 2015 by Barack Obama in the framework of the nuclear pact, had been re-established. It should be remembered that in 2018 President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement on the grounds that Teheran had failed to fulfil its obligations. 

Since the United States abandoned the agreement, Iran has taken the liberty of slightly breaching some of the lines of the pact. According to a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it warns that "the amount of uranium Iran possesses is ten times greater than the quota allowed by the 2015 nuclear agreement". 

These declarations are causing alarm bells to ring in the international press. But the fact is that Iran's uranium enrichment figures are well below the world average, particularly compared to the major powers on the UN Security Council.  

The World Nuclear Association has drawn up a table with the 17 countries that have the most enriched uranium on their territory. This list shows Australia, Kazakhstan, Namibia, South Africa, China and Niger as the leading countries, and at no point, not even at the end of the list, does Iran appear. 

The United States has warned that it will impose sanctions on UN member states that oppose Washington's measure. "If the UN member states do not fully comply with their obligations to implement such sanctions, the United States is prepared to use its national authority to impose consequences for such non-compliance and to ensure that Iran does not reap the benefits of the UN-banned activity," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

It seems that the US will have to open up a new pool of banned countries to sanction, as many states are waiting for the sanctions to be lifted in order to cooperate economically, technologically and militarily with Iran, starting with Russia and China, Turkey, Qatar and Venezuela.

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