28 Mar 2024
Wednesday 8 February 2017 - 10:35
Story Code : 250227

'It will be up to Putin to smooth over relations between Tehran & Washington'

Sputnik- Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated to their highest level in years last week, with the two countries exchanging sanctions and countersanctions and accusing each other of sponsoring terrorism. Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Iran expert Dr. Rasool Nafisi said that it may now be up to Moscow to reduce tensions between the two countries.





On Friday, the US introduced new sanctions againstIran followingthe country's actions, including a recent ballistic missile test. Tehran immediately responded byintroducing countersanctions againstWashington, and accusing President Donald Trump ofviolating the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
The restrictions have sincebeen followed upwith officials trading insults. In an interview forFox News that aired Sunday, President Trump called Iran the "number one terrorist state." Iran countered byannouncing that it would sanction US individuals "involved inbacking Daesh [ISIL/ISIS], al-Qaeda, other terrorist groups, aswell as [those] backing the Zionist regime."


Moscow signaled that it "regrets"Washington's sanctions move, defending the Iran nuclear deal and pointing outthat Iran's missile test should not violate the nuclear agreement. "We have communicated this position tothe US side too," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Monday. Presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov added that Russia disagrees withTrump's assessment ofthe Middle Eastern country asthe 'number one terror state'.


Also onMonday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi indicated that Tehran would not back down, noting that the country would "defend its missile program withfull strength inthe face ofinterventionist policies ofother states." Qassemi stressed that "when it comes toIran's interests, we ourselves are the ones taking decisions, and do not need any consultations withothers oversuch issues."

Speaking toRadio Sputnik aboutthe worrying uptick intensions betweenthe two countries, Dr. Rasool Nafisi, an Iran expert atWashington D.C.'s Strayer University, said that the US's sanctions had more ofa "symbolic importance" thananything else.

"The sanctions [have] ofcourse a symbolic importance tothe new president's supporters. The intention is tosatisfy the conservatives and those who are not quite happy withthe activities ofIran," Nafisi said.
Furthermore, the academic warned that the White House's decisions seem toindicate that they are "itching forsome kind ofconflict inthe Middle East, and especially againstIran, given all the rhetoric they used duringthe election campaign."


This makes some sense, Nafisi noted, when accounting forthe fact that some ofthe people inthe Trump administration are anti-Iran hawks, particularly National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.


"He's the one who testified [while serving in] another position in2015 that the only way tostop Iran fromaccessing nuclear capabilities would be tohave regime change inthe country," Nafisi recalled. "He's basically adamant aboutregime change inIran, and he and the President are quite worried aboutIslamic terrorists, so I imagine that they'd liketo do something aboutit, meaning regime change inIranBut whether they will actually be able todo that or not is a different story."


Asked abouthow other powers, including China, may react tothe escalation oftensions, Nafisi noted that "China is not one ofthe favorites ofPresident Trump, and I even think that the friction withChina will exceed that betweenIran and the United States withina few months, especially overChina's activities inthe South China Sea."

At the same time, the academic said that he doesn't think that "China has much ofan influence" inthis situation. In fact, he noted, "the only person who can probably do something is President Putin ofRussia, who seems tobe a favorite of [President Trump], who has been actively defending him."
"Maybe the intervention ofPresident Putin, especially given the fact that President Trump is keen onfighting Islamic terrorism and ISIS inthe Middle East, and that Russia and Iran are actively participating inthat kind offight this might [result] insome kind ofcoalition betweenthe US, Iran and Russia, and ofcourse others who are fighting inthe region," Nafisi suggested.


On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing senior unnamed US officials, that the Trump team was trying tothink ofways to 'drive a wedge' betweenRussia and Iran, presumably inthe aim ofimproving relations withMoscow while confronting Iran. Numerous foreign policy analysts fromRussia and the US have already commented onthe folly ofsuch an idea, given the two countries' friendly relations and the success oftheir joint efforts againstterrorism inSyria.

Commenting onthe Wall Street Journal's story, The American Conservative senior editor Daniel Larison explained that the continued sharp rhetoric coming outof the White House towardRussian partners likeIran and China could end uphaving a detrimental impact oncooperation withRussia aswell.

"The US should pursue improved relations withRussia, butit seems unlikely that there will be much improvement if the US is simultaneously becoming more combative withIran and China," Larison wrote.
The journalist emphasized that "if the administration continues its more combative approaches tothe latterthat is more likely todrive China and Russia and Rissia and Iran closer together. Rapprochement withone ofthem won't happen withouthaving relatively stable relations withat least one ofthe others. The administration's current path is leading toheightened tensions withboth Iran and China, and that seems likely toharm relations withRussia aswell."



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