Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 22
By Kamila Aliyeva – Trend:
Russia’s position towards Tehran will remain unchanged despite Iran’s decision to continue its missile program and sanctions recently imposed by the US, Mark Galeotti, a Senior Researcher at Institute of International Relations in Prague, told Trend.
“As regards Russia's position towards Iran, while the country is uncomfortable with Iran's missile program, it needs good relations with Tehran for all kinds of reasons, not least for continued cooperation over Syria,” he said.
“So for the moment I think Moscow will not overtly support Tehran, but nor will it cooperate with the US”, he added.
Another expert, Dr. Douglas Yates, Associate Professor and Member of the Academic Committee at the American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy (AGSIRD), believes that the US won’t be able to improve its relations with Moscow, at least now.
“US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has not even filled his top posts and is trying to run the State Department by himself. There are no experts on his team to formulate or implement the policy. Congress has imposed new sanctions against Moscow. Therefore, US President Donald Trump cannot improve relations without appearing guilty of collusion,” he told Trend.
Recently, Islamic Republic’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami stated that Iran will continue its missile program despite US sanctions or external pressure.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a meeting in Manila Aug. 6. It was the first meeting between the officials since US imposed a new set of sanctions against Russia Aug. 2. Both sides vowed for continuation of dialogue in order to improve ties between the two countries.