‘Russian oil will be sought’: What are Moscow’s gains from the war in Iran?
Al Jazeera
While Russia has condemned the killing of Khamenei, its economy could be boosted as it navigates diplomatic relations with Iran and Israel.
Moscow for decades has been Iran’s main international backer, shielding it from United Nations resolutions while trying to soften Western sanctions and selling weaponry worth billions of dollars to Tehran.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lambasted the killing on Saturday of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a “cynical violation of all norms of human morals and the international law”.
Putin’s former prime minister and one-time successor Dmitry Medvedev sardonically called United States President Donald Trump a “peacekeeper who showed his real face”.
Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, compared the war to what he alleged were the collective West’s attempts to destabilise Russia in the 1990s, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said US-Iranian talks about Tehran’s nuclear programme “degraded to direct aggression”.
But as US and Israeli air strikes on Iran raged on for a fourth day on Tuesday, Russia appeared poised to benefit far more from the war than it looked to lose.
Insurers announced they were cancelling war risk coverage after the IRGC said the Strait of Hormuz was ‘closed’.
Qatar has halted its liquefied natural gas production, as India and Europe bear the brunt of soaring prices.
Analysts say the US could run low on vital interceptor missiles within weeks.
Clouds of smoke rose over Beirut’s southern suburbs as Israel escalated its bombardment of the Lebanese capital.
Eighty percent of weapons seized from Mexican cartels come from the US, according to Mexico’s defence minister. How are they making it across the border?
Satriano’s superb volley gives the visitors a 1-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real miss injured forward Mbappe.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) says it also destroyed Iranian air defence installations as well as missile and drone launch sites.
Kinshasa welcomed the sanctions while Kigali said the US move ‘unjustly’ targets Rwanda.
A protracted conflict in the Middle East could help Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
Washington says ‘harder hits’ are still to come, as Tehran retaliates by closing the Strait of Hormuz.