... need to comply with the OPEC+ quotas has a negative impact on the situation, since with the cut of oil production in Iraq the volume of associated gas production also decreased. And this, in turn, again increases dependence on the gas imported from Iran.
Ruslan Mamedov:
Russia Doubles Down on Iraq Despite COVID-19
If Baghdad loses the possibility to import electricity from Iran, Iraq will not be able to receive the same volume from another source. After Iraq's OPEC+ agreement partners expressed dissatisfaction with Baghdad’s failure to comply ...
... to be involved in this conflict of two powers
The escalation of tensions between Iran and the USA in January 2020 has once again raised the question of what positions... ... production was more than halved. This US policy regarding Iran has negatively affected US–Iraqi relations. Iraq, being dependent on the dynamics of the US-Iranian confrontation... ... transportation and naval escort to tankers, which has a negative impact on the market.
Russia: watching from the sidelines
For Russia, the US withdrawal from the “nuclear...
... on resolving the Syrian crisis with the victory of the Assad regime and allies. Yet, Russian-Turkish ties will be affected by Russian-Syrian-Iranian intervention near the Turkish border. The threat that this would impose on the Turkish armed forces could spark a proxy war in Syria or at least in the North-West of the country.
Lebanon and Iraq would undergo a state of great internal turmoil that could either consolidate Iran's power in both countries or lead to civil ...
... the conflict in Syria and this automatically limits leverage
During the 11
th
EU–Russia Expert Network on Foreign Policy (EUREN)
meeting
, Andrea Dessì,
Senior Fellow... ... he expects from the Syrian constitution talks, how the U.S. is exerting pressure on Iran via sanctions and what the EU and Russia have in common when it comes to the Middle... ... stable and predictable foreign policy towards the region.
On October 26, 2019, the Iraqi-born leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi...
... International Security organized by the Russian Defense Ministry. Muhammad Jawad Khadum Al-Abadi, general secretary of the Iraqi Defense Ministry, told the conference that the Russian-Iraqi partnership was at the highest level and that the cooperation between Russian, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian intelligence services is continuing.
Indeed, Russia and Iraq are consistently developing their military and technical cooperation. April 2019 saw the Russian Uralvagonzavod company carrying out the arms contracts and new supplies of T-90C ...
... of creating a security architecture in the region.
Yulia Sveshnikova:
Iran’s Presence in Syria: Is It There for the Long Haul?
Moscow, Beijing and Washington could suggest setting up a security system in the Persian Gulf in the GCC+2 format (adding Iraq and Iran). In addition, Russia traditionally maintains working contacts with Saudi Arabia [
32
] and Iran [
33
]. Moreover, China is a key trading partner for these countries [
34
].
Efforts to reduce tensions between Riyadh and Tehran and strengthen trust between them will ...
... cooperation that Russia and Iraq have been exploiting have tangible potential. Military sales and energy cooperation are the most obvious ones, but Moscow is also becoming what it sees as a “natural ally” of Iraq in the fight against terrorism. Since Russia, Syria, Iran and Iraq formed an information-sharing group in 2015, Russia has sought to deepen this area of cooperation through joint operations against radical groups. Russian lawmaker
Ziyad Sabsabi
has coordinated activities within that group to rescue Russian children ...
... including those based on Shiite ideology, are bound to fail. Moscow is already working to uphold Syria’s statehood and strengthen that country’s armed forces;one recent example was the
formation
of the Fifth Assault Corps).However, the success of the Russian approach depends on the international settlement talks and the reconciliation process within Syria. As for Iraq, the optimal solution would be to legitimize the pro-Iranian forces by incorporating them into the governmental security system, while preserving the country’s secular status, lest the Sunni population become radicalized. Whether this approach sits well with Tehran is a controversial question.
***
Tactically,...
... Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Moscow was providing “weapons to the Kurds through the Iraqi government” to combat the Islamic State. It also was revealed that the Kurds are represented in the intelligence information center in Baghdad alongside Russia, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. In addition to the expansion of security relations, Russian companies have been investing in Iraqi Kurdistan’s energy sector. In February 2017, Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft became the first international oil company to pay ...
... and Europeans find ways to better coordinate their strategy with Russia, Syria and Iran — and seek out a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran? Can Turkey and other states help mediate the Syrian conflict while ultimately bringing the Syrians, Iranians and Saudis into a peace accord?
How should the U.S., Russia, and Europeans deal with the conflict between Turkey, Syria and the Kurds, and between Iraq and the Kurds, given Turkish, Syrian, and Iraqi option to the possibility that the Kurds might use the Syrian conflict to achieve independence in differing regions? Can a loose Kurdish confederation — that does not challenge existing borders — ...
