By Haider Abbas
A friend is what Russia is, no matter what, whatever it takes, is what has come-out from the way Russia has conducted in the last ten years, vis-vis Iran. It stood like a rock by the Iran supported Syrian regime and helped it sustain, throughout the last decade, and also today, has come with a rock-solid support towards Iran, in the on-going conflict of Iran and Israel.
Middle-East has been on the boil, ever since last October 7, when Hamas attacked the imperialist and expansionist Zionist Israel, and since then, with the support of US, Israel has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, including around 18,000 children, starved and flattened the whole Gaza, despite UN and all what not. The 22-Arab states, with the exception of Yemen, have as yet, remained silent spectators to the on-going Israel genocide. Israel attacked Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1, and Iran retaliated with a barrage of drones on Israel on April 14, which damaged Israel most highly guarded 8200 intelligence gathering site at Golan Height, its Nevatim airbase and Ramon airbase in Negev desert. All the three sites were instrumental into bombing the Iranian consulate.
There are now reports that Israel, US, UK and France, with the help of Jordan etc are to attack Iran any time soon, but the attack has not happened yet, only for the sake, that Russia has decided to send a batch of 35 Su-35 fighter jets to Iran, informed Forbes on April 20. This will arguably make Iran counter US and Israel F-35 stealth fighters on an equal ground. The Iran arsenal will now sport the same air-superiority which Israel has enjoyed in all these years. Perhaps, gone are the days, when Israel would use its stealth fighter jets pound on Iran at their ‘sweet-will’. The whole world media had been agog with reports that Israel was hell-bent to attack Iran with nuclear war-heads but perhaps with this Russia-Iran development, it has been halted, as Iran too has warned of an attack by ‘weapons never used before’.
If there is one nuclear attack, then what would happen is that all the nuclear states will fall into the death-hole, be that North Korea, France, China, Russia or US, and the world would see a catastrophe as never seen before. Israel has been stranded in its ranks, has been irked by Russia as never before, as the first installment of 24-Su-35 are to reach within a week’s time. The stage perhaps is also arriving when Muslim nations might finally shun the US claws and join the stage against Israel as Russia-Iran-China is now the conglomerate against Israel which is nothing but an extension of US hegemony in the whole of Middle East. However, the unbearable questions as to how Kingdom of Saudi Arabia behaves with its protégés like UAE and Pakistan are yet to finally unfold?
US and a counter move, and to nail down Russia, has passed a REPO Act on April 23, which has enabled US President Joseph Biden to impound the frozen Russian assets in US banks and instead transfer them to Ukraine! As US aid package to Ukraine had been stalled for months. More than $6 billion of the $300 billion of frozen Russian assets are inside US apart from in Germany, France and Belgium. Obviously, these nations are also to follow the US line now. Israel has also devised a new strategy that Russian frozen reserves may be transferred to Ukraine, and US should not divert its aid solely to Israel. Russia, of course, has warned that the US move is to set a dangerous precedent. US has already sent a package of 26 billion USD to Israel, 8 billion to Taiwan, while the rest of the 95 billion USD to Ukraine.
The skeptics argued the Ukraine war was coming to an end, and Zelinsky to settle at his villa in Egypt, but this package has given a fresh lease to him, and to Taiwan as well, which has signaled that US is now to entangle China in the war zone too. China considers Taiwan as its territory and US stands opposite to it. US also has decided to ban the Chinese video sharing app Tik Tok. India has long banded it. Israel and Europe knows it, that a Russian win, will make Russia focus all-out on Israel, hence, Russia can never be let-go. However, it is a well known fact that this US aid, like the earlier ones, will land up in the hands of the blatantly corrupt regime officials of Ukraine.
Russia, on March 22, was targeted by IS-KP which killed 140, and since then has made a crackdown on its operatives. Russia has accused Ukraine for it. Russia has been greatly helped by Afghanistan and Iran to nab IS-KP elements. It has also decided to recognize the Afghan-Taliban government too. Now, with this Su-35 impetus to Iran, Russia has supposedly added a new dynamic to the whole Middle-East, particularly KSA, which has always banked upon US. US supplied F-35 to Israel and its edge has been blunted by Russian Su=35 to Iran, leaving a question as to why the Arab states have been left behind. US would never hazard such a supply to Arab states, or for that matter, anything to match Israel superiority. Such in fact has been the policy of US for decades.
Russia has invited delegations from Hamas and after the Iran’s retaliation has congratulated Iran, therefore, a new theatre of war is developing and now it is anyone’s guess that a showdown between Russia and Israel is very likely on the cards. How will India situate to this evolving scenario? It will keep on buying Russian oil, then supply it to Europe, make billions, and remain steadfast with US, as India’s prime most objective is to counter China, which used Pakistan to counter India, but India over the past few-years has nurtured KSA which wants to invest in India and may be leave Pakistan in a lurch. Pakistan is already under extreme pressure to dissuade from going-ahead with Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline or else invite stringent sanctions from US.
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The writer is a former UP State Information Commissioner and writes on international relations.