{"id":254789,"date":"2022-01-25T08:29:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T13:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=254789"},"modified":"2023-02-03T14:38:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T13:38:23","slug":"iran-raisis-russia-visit-much-ado-about-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-a-world\/iran-raisis-russia-visit-much-ado-about-nothing\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran: Raisi\u2019s Russia Visit Much Ado About Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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October 2021 – supporters of the NCRI protested outside the COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Ebrahim Raisi canceled his plan to attend in fear of his arrest for his role in massacre of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Iranian regime\u2019s president, Ebrahim Raisi, wrapped up his visit to Russia on January 20. It was supposed to mark a dramatic improvement in Iran-Russia relations, paving the way to historical agreements that would catapult the regime out of the current deadlock with the international community while defusing US sanctions. But instead, Raisi returned home deflated and empty-handed, and even state media mocked the visit.<\/p>\n

The majority of Iran\u2019s state-run media mocked Raisi\u2019s visit to Russia<\/a> and inquired about the so-called \u201crevolutionary\u201d slogan of \u201cNeither the West nor the East,\u201d engraved on the Foreign Ministry\u2019s entrance.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, those publications affiliated with Raisi\u2019s faction celebrated his visit to Russia, even before he got a chance to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

A few months ago, the regime claimed it had become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization<\/a> (SCO).\u00a0 Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded Raisi that Tehran only has an “observer” status.<\/p>\n

Last September, official news agencies considered the regime’s membership at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as the Raisi government\u2019s important achievement. “During Raisi\u2019s visit to Russia, however, it became evident that the [regime] has been accepted as an observer state in SCO,\u201d the state-run Dideban website wrote on January 20.<\/p>\n

Raisi described his visit to Russia as a turning point. \u201cWe have common interests with Russia, and our collaboration and common interests could certainly promote security and combat unilateralism in the region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 2018, Raisi\u2019s mentor, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, spoke of the so-called \u201ctilting toward the East\u201d foreign policy. As a part of that policy, Raisi traveled to Russia, hoping he could secure Russia\u2019s support as the prospect of a tougher Western stance regarding Tehran\u2019s nuclear ambitions strengthened. The regime sought to exploit existing tensions between Russia and Western powers.<\/p>\n

Mohammad Reza Sajadi, the regime\u2019s former Ambassador to Russia, told the state-run Ofogh TV on January 19 that Putin\u2019s chief of staff has explicitly told him, \u201cIf you obtain a nuclear weapon<\/a>, our security will be endangered.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Iran sought nuclear weapons from Russia: former Iranian ambassador to Moscow<\/div><\/div>
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