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Hello all!
Now, we will go into some specifics: the various Caspian countries and why they matter...especially to Russia. And, quite often, why Russia matters to them. Iran During Soviet times, the only other independent Caspian country. (Keeping in mind that, by treaty, the Soviets had the right to intervene in the face of intervention by a third party - probably an important reason why Carter moved cautiously during the hostage crisis.) Since the Iranian revolution, which replaced a repressive pro-American monarch with a radical reactionary theocratic - and anti-American - regime in 1979, coupled with the taking of American diplomatic hostages, the US considered Iran its Number One enemy in the Middle East. For that reason, the US backed Saddam Hussein's Iraq to the hilt with money, arms and loan guarantees for food imports, among other things, when he invaded Iran in September 1980. Keep in mind also that the invasion was preceded by militant and threatening anti-Iraqi rhetoric, and an assassination attempt on then-Information Minister Tariq Aziz. Iraq's Ba'ath regime, ideologically secularist and progressive (and Sunni-run) - was a target of the Iranian Shi'ite mullahs' venom. When that war involved oil tankers in 1986 and 1987 - specifically, Iraq and Iran each targetting tankers serving the other side - the US engaged in one-upmanship with the USSR in tanker-flagging, which turned to the benefit mainly of those tankers serving Iraq. In the meantime, of course, the revelation that the US had been financing arms for Iran - in exchange for Iranian "good offices" in the freeing of US hostages held by pro-Iranian terrorist groups in Lebanon - damaged the standing of the US in general and that of its then-President, Ronald Reagan, in particular. But, after a ceasefire in August 1988 (there has never been a formal peace treaty), anti-Americanism took place over vengeance against Iraq. During the Kuwait War, the Iranian regime threatened to side with Iraq if Israel retaliated for Iraqi Scud attacks. Yes - the same Israel which (1) sold Merkava tanks to Iran and (2) bombed the Osiraq nuclear reactor - on the verge of producing weapons-grade plutonium - in June 1981. Check the dates above and tell me some Iranians don't have a gratitude problem. Only lately, especially with the encouragement of Iranian President Khatamei, has there even been a hint of a thaw in US-Iranian relations. Meanwhile, Tehran and Moscow are much less distant than they used to be, since the former is much less theocratic with the passing of the Ayatollah Khomeini, and the latter, of course, is no longer atheistic.
The copyright of the article Russia and the Caspian: The New Middle East. Part II in a series in Russian Politics is owned by . Permission to republish Russia and the Caspian: The New Middle East. Part II in a series in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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