Conservative Critics Lash Out At Iran’s Raisi For Inaction

The commander of the army’s air force, General Hamid Vahedi said that for the first time in the ten-year history of the annual drills, operations were tested on a “decentralized” fashion.

Command centers in the central city of Esfahan, Bushehr and Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, Dezful in the southwest, Tabriz in the northwest and central command guided warplanes to their air and ground targets.

The Islamic Republic does not possess an effective traditional air force capable of competing with modern rivals due to decades of sanctions preventing the purchase and maintenance of warplanes. Instead, it has relied on the development of a large missile arsenal, with a range of 2,000 kilometers. It is also developing a large fleet of drones and trying to make equip them with more electronic equipment for guidance and evasion.

The statement claimed that aircraft were able to refuel in the air “both within and beyond the borders”. It also said an important goal of the drills was to test low-altitude flight without the use of aircraft’s navigation system.

In September tensions flared up between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan after Baku arrested two Iranian truck drivers, accusing them of going to Nagorno Karabakh that lies within its international borders.

The tensions led to military drills by each side and political mudslinging, including Iranian accusations that Azerbaijan allows an Israeli military and intelligence presence on its territory.

Iran has tried to remain neutral in the conflict between its two northern neighbors but is concerned of more Azerbaijani encroachments on Armenian territory after last year’s war in which Baku took back most of the territories it had lost to Armenia in the early 1990s.

The Agency has told transportation companies not to send trucks to the disputed region from Armenia, reminding them of a foreign ministry directive that entering the region from any point other than Azerbaijani border posts would violate the latter’s territorial integrity.

Most of Iran’s exports to Armenia travel along a road partly controlled by Azerbaijan. Tehran and Yerevan earlier agreed to widen and expand another route that would allow trucks to travel without hindrance.

Foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Monday that a 20-year cooperation agreement would be reached with Venezuela during President Nicolas Maduro’s trip to Iran in the coming months. While in Moscow this month, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran was ready for a strategic partnership with Russia.

Tehran and Beijing signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement in March under which Iran hopes to attract Chinese investments and bolster diplomatic support. Beijing has balanced a willingness to risk United States sanctions in some areas – especially by continuing to buy Iranian oil – against the strategic interest of many Chinese entities in US markets and by its developing links with Gulf Arab countries and Israel.

Iran’s leaders are keen to show the public that the country is not isolated despite the US ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions imposed since 2018, which led to many international companies, especially energy majors including Total and Royal Dutch Shell, leaving Iran in fear of punitive action by Washington.

But the media is far from convinced. Shargh, the reformist newspaper, Monday quoted Majid-Reza Hariri, chairman of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, that the agreement with China has not led to tangible results.

"Not one trade agreement, including in the mining sector, which is one of the areas [of interest for Iran], has been signed so far," Hariri said. He suggested Iranian mining had potential for investment of over $80 billion and the oil sector $400 billion.

In a commentary Wednesday, the reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper argued that a long-term agreement with Venezuela could be justified only if Venezuela had considerable global influence, was a strong economy and a good export market, and was able to help Iran circumvent US sanctions or process international financial transactions.

A common antipathy to the US was no justification, the commentary said. "Iran cannot count on Venezuela's help… Venezuela is in deep political crisis and its political system may collapse any minute to give way to a pro-Western government which will mean the agreement with [Iran] will become obsolete.” Aftab-e Yazd urged parliament to “prevent the possibility of damage to the country.”

Speaking to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) Wednesday, former Iranian ambassador to Bolivia, Reza Tabatabaei said Venezuela, which also faces US sanctions, needed the agreement more than Iran.

Tehran could help Caracas sell oil, Tabatabaei suggested, even though “these types of agreements are more a political message than economic.” Facing challenges from the opposition, the Maduro government might turn its back on the agreement to make concessions to the US and help the president stay in power, Tabatabaei argued.

Tejarat newspaper in a commentary Tuesday suggested Tehran might see opportunities to accept payments from Venezuela’s gold reserves, thereby avoiding the dollar. In April there were reports Iran was receiving gold for helping cash-strapped Venezuela rebuild refineries.

The attack on the rebel-held town of Ariha, which took place shortly after the Damascus bombing, had caused the biggest civilian death toll in the Idlib area since March 2020, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Damascus bombing, which hit a bus carrying army personnel in the middle of the city at around 6:45 a.m. (0345 GMT), state television reported.

A military source quoted by state media said the bus was blown up by two bombs that had been attached to the vehicle in advance. A third device was defused by an army engineering unit.

Attacks in Damascus have been rare since the army crushed rebel enclaves around the city with backing from Russia and Iran-backed forces in 2018.

Islamic State militants still operate in the deserts of central and eastern Syrian desert, where they have mounted several attacks this year on army vehicles.

Northwestern Syria is the last major stronghold of rebels fighting Assad. The witnesses and rescue workers said shelling struck residential areas of the rebel-held town of Ariha shortly after the Damascus bomb attack.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said government forces and Iran-backed groups targeted a marketplace in the Ariha town center.

Reporting by Reuters

The talks coming amid uncertainty about the impact of the Taliban rule is a round of diplomacy that underlines Moscow's continuing influence in the region.

Opening the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed regret that the United States had chosen not to send a delegation, saying he hoped the US would attend future talks.

He said the Taliban was now in power in Afghanistan and there was no alternative to this for the foreseeable future.

His comments reflected Russian President Vladimir Putin's comments last week that although there should be no rush in officially recognizing the Taliban as the new rulers of the country, it was necessary to engage in talks with them.

Lavrov emphasized the security challenges posed by the Islamic State group and other militants based in northern Afghanistan and noted that drug trafficking from Afghanistan would continue to present a challenge.

Iran has also voiced concern over recent terror attacks targeting the Shiite minority in Afghanistan, attributed to the Islamic State group.

With reporting by AP