Kiss of Ashgabat

While according to the announced plans, US President Joe Biden is going to visit Saudi Arabia on July 15th and 16^th and meet with "Mohammed bin Salman", the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Caspian Summit in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, a meeting that had wide coverage in the media and carried many messages for different parties, including the United States and its regional ally, Saudi Arabia.

The main goal of Biden's regional trip

No one better than "Jake Sullivan", the national security advisor of the White House, explains the main purpose of the US President's regional visit, including his visit to Saudi Arabia.

He says: “Deeper integration and deeper cooperation among all the countries of the region against the Iranian threat, including the Iranian missile threat, is a real priority of this administration, and we expect to continue to move the ball down the field on that, including during the President's trip.”

Sullivan stated this in an interview with reporters regarding the goals of Biden's trip to the West Asian region and whether "the United States is looking to create a regional coalition with the participation of Arab countries and Israel to counter Iran's missile power." What confirms these statements are the claims of Benny Gantz, the Minister of Defense of Israel, about the formation of a regional coalition to confront Iran, who objected to the members of the "Knesset," saying: "This alliance will be based on US-led air defense systems in the Middle East region."

"Last year, Tel Aviv and the Pentagon made extensive planning to strengthen cooperation between Israel and the countries of the region led by the US and CENTCOM, and I hope that we will take another step forward in this aspect (of regional cooperation) during President Biden's important visit," Gantz said.

Saudis' movements on Biden's trip

As the date of Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia is approaching, the Saudis started new regional movements, the most important of which was the visit of "Mohammed bin Salman", the Crown Prince of this country, to the three countries of Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.

Bin Salman's visit to these countries, which Riyadh has always been in tension with in recent years, contains several messages, the most important of which is the effort of the Saudi Crown Prince to satisfy Cairo, Amman and Ankara to put aside differences and give cooperate with them in order to accompany Riyadh in massive mobilization against Iran on the sidelines of Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia.

In the meeting with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, Bin Salman tried to influence them to accompany him in mass mobilization against Iran, and providing the grounds for the formation of a regional front against Iran by accusing Tehran for interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries and trying to disturb the stability of the region.

Kiss of Ashgabat

Raisi's meeting with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the Caspian Summit is the second meeting between the presidents of the two countries after the Iranian president's visit to Moscow, which was held at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, some six months ago and not only it created a turning point in the history of relations between the two countries, but also marked the beginning of new and extensive political, military and economic cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, which empowers Iran to become a regional hegemon more determined than ever to expand its cross-border influence, especially in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

This trip also proved that although some regional players are trying to form a coalition with the support of the United States to make false accusations against Iran, but on the other hand, Tehran is not sitting idle, rather, in addition to showing strength in the field, it has also been active in the diplomatic field. It has formed a powerful coalition consisting of Iran, Russia, and China against the United States, Israel, and its allies in the region, which can take away the power of any movement from the anti-Iranian coalition and turn it into a dead coalition before it is formed.

The cordial meeting between Putin and Raisi in Ashgabat is a re-emphasis on the alignment of interests and regional and international approaches of the two countries in all fields, especially political and economic fields against the West and at the top of it is America.

Russians' high understanding of Iran's position and importance

In an analysis of Iran's position in Russia's foreign policy, the Russian news agency " RIA Novosti" wrote: “Iran and Russia have a lot in common, both of them are under the influence of foreign pressures, sanctions and false portrayals of the West…. The western media is trying to mention Iran as a threat, but the high military power of this country greatly increases the cost of any aggression... Apart from this issue, the self-esteem of Iranians is the most important factor in maintaining their independence... Iranians do not feel weak in front of any foreign force, especially Westerners, and in many cases, they have reached self-sufficiency…. For this reason, the meeting between the presidents of Iran and Russia cannot be considered as a common and normal event. Although this is not Putin's first meeting with an Iranian president, it is the beginning of a new phase in the relations between the two countries, which can turn into a strategic cooperation.”

Stating that in the meeting with his Russian counterpart, the President of Iran spoke about Iran's plan for a 20-year strategic cooperation with Russia and the need for greater synergy between the two countries to confront the West, especially the regional movements of the United States, RIA Novosti adds: “The decline of the world system in the countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the formation of a new world based on a multipolar system is important for both Iran and Russia. However, it is not the only common thing that brings Iran and Russia together, but there are many common issues and interests in the international arena, and of course, the bilateral cooperation, which leads to the increase of relations between Moscow and Tehran. A clear example of this alignment of interests is the biased position of Moscow towards Tehran during the nuclear negotiations, especially the rejection of the West's false accusations regarding Iran's nuclear program and the attempt to sign the JCPOA.”

While praising the policy of looking at the enthusiasm of the new Iranian government and pointing to the signing of the 25-year strategic cooperation document between Tehran and Beijing, RIA Novosti writes: “The leadership cooperation of Iran, Russia and China shows the new architecture of global security and for the same reason it has great importance… Here, the cooperation is not only limited to joint military exercises, regional communication corridors, trade and energy projects, combating terrorism and helping to maintain regional stability and development, rather, the importance of these cooperation’s lies in the fact that it shows that the Asian powers, without the need of the West and America at the top of them, CAN deal with the ups and downs of regional affairs.”

Iran, whose accession process has started as an official and permanent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, aims to establish maximum relations with the Eurasian Union, which means increasing Tehran's all-round relations with Moscow. Although Iran is involved in economic sanctions these days, it has many capacities to become one of the most important, strongest and richest countries in the world. An independent and advanced Iran is seen as a very beneficial neighbor for Russia. For this reason, Moscow's participation in restoring Iran's rightful place in the world will bring great economic and geopolitical benefits for both sides, and the visit to Ashgabat not only confirms all these statements, but also emphasizes the failure of the regional strategies of America and its allies, including Saudi Arabia and Israel, against Iran, including the formation of an anti-Iranian coalition against Tehran.