Russia Is Failing Its Allies When It Matters Most |
The war in Iran, and especially the quick decapitation of the country’s leadership structure, has been a swift, remarkable display of American power and Israeli determination. But there is one other fact it has proven: an alliance with Moscow counts for little when a regime faces its greatest threat.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Just a year ago, Iranian and Kremlin officials inked a “comprehensive strategic partnership agreement,” cementing the deepening ties between the two regimes. It wasn’t quite the mutual defense pact that Russia had previously signed with North Korea. But it formalized closer defense cooperation between Tehran and Moscow and was the capstone of a years-long courtship in which Iran supplied billions of dollars’ worth of arms for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, Iran’s role in Russia’s drone and missile supply had become so pronounced that, as one expert on Russian-Iranian relations said, “Russia is reliant on Iran for its war” in Ukraine.
That may have been an overstatement, but only slightly. Along with a few select other countries, such as Belarus and North Korea, Iran was a primary bulwark of Russia’s neo-imperialist crusade in Ukraine.
A year later, however, that arrangement lies in tatters. Instead of racing to defend its Iranian allies, the Kremlin did little more publicly than wring its hands, bleat about violations of international law and hope for the best. In just a few short days, the war has exposed Russia’s geopolitical feebleness, confirming the Kremlin’s remarkable collapse in geopolitical relevance despite proclaiming itself a friend of the Global South. The entire war........