Russian-Iranian military cooperation upsets the balance of the West
The CIA Director, William Burns, said that Washington is concerned about the growing cooperation between Russia and Iran, and fears that this will eventually develop into a full defense partnership.
Burns said, in an interview with PBS, on Friday, that his country is very concerned, “There is a great deal of mistrust between Russia and Iran historically, but they need each other at the present time,” adding that “what is beginning to appear now is at least the first stage of a broad defense partnership between Russia and Iran.
According to Burns, this partnership “is already having an impact on the battlefield in Ukraine,” noting that “it could have more serious repercussions in the Middle East as well, if it continues”.
“So we take this very seriously,” the CIA director confirmed.
Washington has previously talked about Russia using Iranian war marches in Ukraine, but Moscow has repeatedly denied the validity of these allegations, and confirmed that it “uses Russian-made military technologies and mechanisms in its military operation in Ukraine”.
On December 9, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House, John Kirby, warned of the transformation of the arms exchange relationship between Moscow and Tehran between the two countries into a “comprehensive and complete defense partnership”.
For his part, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly expressed serious concern about military cooperation between Russia and Iran.
The British minister accused Iran of providing Russia with hundreds of drones, considering Tehran, one of the largest arms suppliers to Russia during the conflict in Ukraine.
The British Foreign Office issued a statement on Friday, saying that “Russia is offering military and technical support to the Iranian regime, thus exacerbating the danger it poses to our partners in the Middle East and to international security”.
The statement continues that “Britain intends to hold the two countries accountable for this”.
The statement indicated that “Britain is concerned about Russia’s intentions to provide more technically advanced military components to Iran, and to give the regime the possibility of increasing its military capabilities”.
Russia denied using Iranian drones, and Iran also denied providing Russia with drones for use in Ukraine.
On the 10th of this month, the British Ambassador to the United Nations, Barbara Woodward, expressed her country’s concern about the growing military cooperation between Russia and Iran.
The increasingly solid cooperation between Iran and Russia has caused great concern in Israel, which has incited against Iran in several Western countries, providing it with an intelligence file related to arms transfers from Iran to Russia.
Indicative of the high level of anxiety in Israel, senior Israeli officials have expressed concern that Russia will allow Iran more freedom of action in Syria in return for the military assistance it receives from Tehran.
