Long memories of Russia put cloud on Putin’s Iran visit
Posted: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 2:15 PM
Filed Under:
Tehran, Iran
By Ali Arouzi, NBC News Producer
The last time a Russian leader came to Iran was in 1943 when the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill attended a wartime summit in Tehran.
Six decades after Stalin’s visit, it was the turn of President Vladimir Putin, who came to Tehran to make it clear to Washington that Moscow would not accept military action against Iran, a sentiment shared by other Caspian Sea states at the summit.
"We should not even think of using force in this region," Putin said at the summit in comments clearly aimed at the United States and Europe.
And as far as official Iran is concerned – Putin’s visit was just as significant as the Tehran summit during World War II.
"The mere fact of Putin's presence on Iranian soil is evidence that the West's policy of isolation is a failure and can be interpreted as a victory of Iranian diplomacy," the newspaper Iran News wrote prior to the summit.
But even though Tehran may seem to have gained an upper hand with what seems to be Russian support for it is nuclear program and a buffer against a military strike, at the same time, many Iranians don’t trust Russia as a country that will defend their national interests. While official Iran is touting Putin’s visit as a victory that is beneficial for Iran, unofficially the visit has been treated with a great deal of suspicion.
Russian, not always such a good friend
Historically Russian has a bad track record with regard to Iran and its territories. At its height, Iranian rulers controlled Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, much of Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Many Iranians today consider those areas part of a greater Iranian sphere of influence, as opposed to a Russian sphere, at least culturally.
But high mountains and the vast emptiness of the Iranian plateau were not enough to shield Iran from the Russian Army or British Navy. Both literally, and figuratively, shrank Iran.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Azerbaijan, Armenia, much of Georgia, and Afghanistan were under Iranian control, but by the end of the century, the Russian Empire wrested much of it from Tehran. All the rest of the territories were lost to the British. So, for many Iranians there is no love lost for the Russians or the British.
"I have lived in Iran all my life, 91 years, and I have seen a lot of changes to my beloved country," said Babak Mansour, a former carpet deatler. "I have seen three kings come and go, countless territories lost, a coup to overthrow a democratically voted prime minister and two revolutions, all in my life time. I can tell you, with God as my witness, that the Russians and the British were behind all of them."
"There is no way that the Russians would go against their friends in the West for Iran if they were not going to gain something vast in the long run, they only came to Iran to serve their own interest, not ours," he added.
Divvying up the riches of the Caspian Sea
Although the tussle of Iran’s nuclear aspirations made the headlines, the main issue before the summit was the Caspian Sea. Divvying up territory in and around the inland sea – believed to contain the world's third-largest reserves of oil and natural gas – has been a major bone of contention among the five nations.
The Caspian's offshore borders have been in limbo since the 1991 Soviet collapse and the lack of agreement has led to tensions and conflicts over oil deposits. Putin’s visit was also largely aimed at strengthening efforts to blunt U.S. economic and military interests in the area.
Putin suggested that Moscow and Tehran should have a veto on any Western plans for new pipelines to carry oil and natural gas from the Caspian Sea – which would safeguard Russia’s current monopoly on energy deliveries from the region.
In terms of Iran’s nuclear program, Putin made an unspecified proposal at a private meeting with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, Iran's state news agency reported Wednesday.
No details were provided, but Khamenei, who has the final say on all government matters, said Iran will give Putin's proposal serious thought before giving a response. "We will ponder your words," Khamenei was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Putin refused to set a date for completing the Bushehr nuclear plant – which is being built by the Russians and would be Iran's first nuclear reactor – in an attempt to avoid an outright show of support for Iran's defiance over its nuclear program.
That lack of commitment on the Bushehr plant was a significant oversight as far as Ahmad, a political science student in Tehran, was concerned.
"The only reason the Russian came to Iran was to steal our share of the Caspian, they are just pretending to be our friend," said Ammad, who asked that his last name not be used. "If they are really supporting us, why did they not set a date for the completion of the Bushehr plant?"
"It’s funny that our government is making deals with a country that has done so much harm to us," he added. "The Russians have hurt Iran more than the Americans ever have, yet we are making deals with them and not the Americans."
