Vladimir ‘no mates’ Putin pays $58bn to buy Iran’s friendship
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran to shore up his anti-Western coalition even as Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy giant, announced a $58bn deal to develop the Iranian gas and oil industry.
Iran rolled out a big red carpet for Putin at Mehrabad airport, where he was greeted by Javad Owji, the oil minister, before talks with President Ebrahim Raisi and supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Gazprom’s deal with Iran’s national oil company involves developing the Kish and North Pars gas fields, as well as six oilfields. It will also assist Iran in completing liquefied natural gas projects, and in constructing gas export pipelines.
Iran has the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia, but its efforts to boost production have been hindered by American sanctions over its nuclear ambitions.
The agreement signals a new eagerness to move closer to Iran. The Kremlin had been wary about a formal alliance over fears that would harm its lucrative economic interests in the West. However, those concerns became largely irrelevant when Russia overtook Iran as the world’s most-sanctioned country shortly after Putin ordered tanks into Ukraine in February.
“The contact with Khamenei is very important,” Yury Ushakov, Mr Putin’s foreign policy adviser, said. “On most issues, our positions are close or identical.” Levan Dzhagaryan, the Russian ambassador to Iran, said the two countries were together in a “single fortress”.
Gazprom’s intentions are being watched closely in Europe amid concern that the Kremlin may decide not to restart gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline after a 10-day break for maintenance due to end tomorrow.
Reuters cited sources on Wednesday saying the pipeline would renew operations as scheduled, but with a limited capacity.