Iran needs Russian military support to deter future US attacks, analyst says

[0:00] Iran's foreign minister is in St. Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. [0:05] Abbas Arakji's visit is part of diplomatic efforts to end the war with the U.S. [0:10] He's been on a regional tour since Friday with stops in Oman and Pakistan. [0:13] Arakji has held consultations with Iran's Gulf and regional partners, [0:17] as well as phone calls with foreign ministers of Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. [0:22] My trips to Pakistan and Oman were bilateral. [0:29] Regarding Pakistan, this country has played an important role in mediating negotiations [0:34] between Iran and the United States recently, and it was necessary to discuss the latest developments. [0:40] In any case, there have been developments in the negotiation process, [0:44] and the incorrect approaches and excessive demands of the United States [0:47] have prevented the previous round of negotiations from achieving its objectives, despite some progress. [0:56] We reviewed what has happened in the past and discussed how and under what conditions negotiations could continue. [1:03] After all, the heroic resistance of the Iranian people over the past 40 days [1:08] should enable us to assert the rights of the Iranian people and ensure the interests of our country. [1:14] All right, Fouad Azadi is an associate professor at the University of Tehran, [1:18] and he joins us now from the Iranian capital. [1:20] Professor Azadi, thank you for being on the program. [1:23] So, your country's foreign minister, Abbas Arakji, is in Russia right now meeting with President Putin, [1:29] and I wonder what you think he aims to get out of this meeting. [1:35] I think he is discussing the negotiations that are going on with the United States. [1:42] You know, he was in Islamabad right before going to Russia. [1:47] Updating allies and countries that are stakeholders is something that the foreign minister does. [1:56] This is what the diplomatic core in countries generally engage in. [2:02] So, that's going to be one issue, updating the Russian side on what's going on. [2:07] I think he's going to thank Russia for the veto that they had in the UN Security Council a few weeks ago. [2:14] We had this Bahraini-US resolution at the UN Security Council against Iran, [2:22] and it was vetoed by Russia and China. [2:25] So, he's doing that. [2:27] And, of course, Iran-Russia military relations has been quite extensive, [2:34] and I think Iran is looking to see whether Iran can get more help from Russia in the war that has not finished. [2:43] This is a ceasefire. [2:45] We never know when Trump decides to attack Iran again. [2:50] One aim Iran has is to end the war, but they're not sure whether they can achieve that. [2:57] So, increasing military cooperation is going to be another topic that they will discuss in St. Petersburg. [3:05] Okay. [3:05] So, Professor, what I hear you're saying is this is partially diplomacy, [3:09] partially, though, about military support. [3:12] So, what kind of weapons do the Iranians need from the Russians? [3:18] You know, Russians showed that they're able to shoot down F-35s in the war in Ukraine. [3:25] We have seen a lot of F-35s in Iranian skies. [3:31] So, being able to access these type of air defense systems is going to be one of the main issues that I think the foreign minister will be talking about. [3:43] Of course, the military linkage between Iran and Russia has its own channels as well. [3:49] But since the foreign minister is meeting with the Russian president, I think Iran needs help, [3:57] as we have seen during the war, in the 40 days of war. [4:01] Iran needs help with regard to defending Iranian skies. [4:04] It wouldn't be good to see the same level of infiltration of Iranian skies as we saw during the 40-day war. [4:16] Iran actually managed to hit a few U.S. jets during the war, but that wasn't enough. [4:24] So, Iran needs to make sure that this happens. [4:28] And, you know, the way the U.S. operates is that when they saw the Russian government being able to hit F-35s in the Ukrainian war, [4:42] we didn't see a lot of F-35s being available to be hit. [4:46] So, that is something that I think Iran wants to achieve, to make sure that the country is less vulnerable when it comes to these type of attacks. [4:57] There are going to be other components of Iran's defense that I think Russia can help with the state of Hormuz being under blockade. [5:09] I think things that Iran used to get through a state of Hormuz needs to come from other places, [5:16] and Russia would be one of the countries that could help. [5:19] Okay. [5:20] Professor Izzadi, Fuad Izzadi, Associate Professor at the University of Tehran, [5:24] we appreciate your perspective today, sir. [5:26] Thank you.