Why Iran spoke out so sharply against Russia — opinion of an Iranian expert

This week, the new Iranian president, Masoud Peseshkian, said that Iran does not support the conflict on Ukraine and has never approved of Russia's actions. Why has Tehran drastically changed its rhetoric, Pravda.Ru Vladimir Sazhin, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained.

According to Sazhin, the 9th President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who recently came to power, has a reformist and liberal position compared to the previous deceased head of state Ibrahim Raisi. The expert also recalled that during the election campaign, the new Iranian leader advocated multipolarity and held the opinion that focusing exclusively on the East — towards the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, India — is not entirely correct. He intends to make a turn towards Western Europe. In addition, due to the decline in various spheres of life in the country, new approaches to foreign policy are emerging, the Iranian added.

According to the expert, the main goal for Iran at the moment is the lifting or easing of sanctions measures that were imposed against the country by US President Donald Trump. Most of all, Iran is now focused on the nuclear deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of 2015. Having solved the nuclear issue, and this can only be achieved with the United States and European countries, there is a possibility that the situation with sanctions will change for the better for the Iranian capital.

Iran is forced to use Russia for its own benefit. The Russian Federation itself can not give very much at the moment to this state located in southwest Asia. Based on the circumstances, Iran took advantage of the fact that Moscow is not on the best terms with Western countries, he summed up.