“There is nothing to discuss.” Iran asked the help of Russia to the War with Israel until the last moment. Why didn't Vladimir Putin reply

The Tehran hoped to receive military aid by his Moscow ally, but received only rhetoric, observes analysts quoted by Wall Street Journal.

At the beginning of the year, Russian President Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin with his Iranian counterpart to sign a new strategic partnership that paraphrased the Alliance between the two countries, a partnership that had the role of undermining the world -led order.

Under the attack of Israel and then the US, Iran was not helped too much by this alliance.

On Monday, when he met with the head of Iranian diplomacy Abbas Araghchi, the leader of Kremlin Vladimir Putin criticized the “unjustified and unprovocated” blows and said that Russia wants to help the Iranian people.

However, he made no reference to military support in his public statements before discussions.

Iran provided Russia with military aid, instead received rhetorical support

The Israeli attacks targeted Iran's nuclear program, rockets and peak military figures, and the US joined the weekends on the main three nuclear sites.

Meanwhile, Iran has not received more than rhetorical support from its strongest supporters, including Russia and China.

The partnership between Moscow and Tehran was a ginger in the coast of Western interests in Europe and the Middle East.

The two cooperated for almost a decade in Syria to keep President Bashar al-Assad.

And after Moscow failed in the initial stages of his invasion in Ukraine, Iran supported Russia's war effort with ammunition, artillery projectiles and thousands of drones.

But Moscow has not answered this favor so far.

Why don't Russia act

Given that Iran is facing the biggest existential challenge of the last decades and even President Trump's calls to change the regime, it is unlikely that Russia will provide military aid, analysts said.

Although the strategic partnership concluded between the two countries did not include a mutual defense pact, he strengthened the exchange of information and forbade the parties to help their enemies.

“Iran may ask Russia to support it against the US, but Moscow will never accept this,” said Wall Journal Nikolai Kojanov, an expert in Russo-Iranian and professor at the University of Qatar.

This movement emphasizes the transactional nature of Putin's most powerful partnerships, as the Kremlin is stuck in Ukraine and vulnerable to Western sanctions.

Putin wants to avoid escalation of violence that could have negative consequences for Russia.

He also wants to maintain a reasonable relationship with Israel and also maintain links with Trump, which has refrained from sanctioning Russia, despite the Kremlin resistance to engage in substantial peace negotiations.

Monday, Iran asked Putin new anti -aircraft defense systems

This is unlikely to satisfy – or to surprise – Iran, who has had disappointments from Russia.

One month after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed over 1,200 Israeli, the Iranian government said it has concluded an agreement for Moscow for providing Suho-35 hunting aircraft, MI-28 attack helicopters, S-400 air defense systems and Yak-30 training plants.

The only deliveries he received were the training planes.

Production problems and diplomatic pressure from other Gulf countries have led Russia to retain more sensitive and stronger technology, said Nicole Grajewski, a member of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of a book on Iran and Russia.

Last year, Israeli attacks destroyed some of the best anti -aircraft defense systems, provided by the Russians. In the months that followed, Russia could not or did not want to replace them.

On Monday, Araghchi asked Putin new anti -aircraft defense systems and help to restore his nuclear energy network, according to an informed person about discussions.

Last week, when he was pressed by reporters to explain why Russia does not provide weapons to help Iran counteract Israel's attacks, Putin said that Iran's interest in Russian equipment has decreased and that Iran did not make any new request.

“There is nothing to discuss,” he said.

Iran, more dependent on Russia and China

Iran is just Russia's last partner treated with Moscow indifferent in a moment of need.

Armenia, who has a mutual defense treaty with Russia, did not receive any help from Moscow, given that her forces in the Nagorno-Karabah separatist region were decimated by Azerbaijan troops in 2020 and 2023.

Similarly, when Bashar al-Assad was overturned from power last year, Putin became limited to offering his asylum.

Instead of helping Iran, Putin tried to position himself as a potential mediator in conflict. Trump rejected this possibility last week, saying that Putin should first focus on the mediation of the War in Ukraine.

The Israeli-Iranian war could be, in some respects, beneficial for Moscow, contributing to the increase in oil price and distracting attention from the invasion of Ukraine.

During this time, Iran could, in fact, come out of conflict more isolated and more dependent on Russia and China, which could use this to their advantage.

“A frequent dissatisfaction in Iran is that China and Russia, instead of being true friends, exploits Iran's isolation to get cheap natural resources, selling Iran lower quality military equipment, sometimes without delivering promised equipment,” explained to Wall Street Journal Tino Sanandaji Economics.

Others warned that Russia's credibility as an ally could be at stake.

“It remains valid that Russia could not prevent the massive attack of Israel on a country with which, five months ago, he had signed a strategic partnership agreement,” wrote the politicalon Andrei Kortunov.

“Moscow is not clearly prepared to go beyond political statements,” he said.