(Abu Dhabi) From Syria to Ukraine, “flourishing” military ties between Russia and Iran worry the United States, while Tehran could benefit from the technologies brought to its drones used by Moscow, said Wednesday a American military official.
Iran, very close to Moscow particularly on the Syrian issue, is accused by Western countries of delivering large quantities of drones, particularly explosives, to the Russian army to help it in its war in Ukraine, which Tehran denies.
“There is a risk that when Russia accepts drones from Iran, when it modifies these weapons, some of that technology will be shared with Iran (and) give it additional capabilities,” said the Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich, during a press briefing in Abu Dhabi.
“And I kind of see the implications of that relationship at work in Syria. Who would have ever thought that the Russian Federation would need Iran for its military capabilities? And yet,” he added to journalists.
Drones have become a central element of the military strategy of Russia and Iran, two countries subject to heavy Western sanctions.
Iran unveiled at the end of August the new version of a military drone capable of flying for 24 hours and transporting all kinds of weapons. The Mohajer 10 is intended to enrich the air defense capabilities of the Islamic Republic.
Alexus Grynkewich said he was “concerned” by the strengthening of “cooperation and collusion between Russia and Iran in Syria”, Moscow and Tehran already being the main supporters of President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war which has ravaged the country since 2011.
“Monitor very closely”
The American soldier assured that the United States was “monitoring very closely” this Russian-Iranian cooperation, deploring Tehran’s “economic, political and military support” for Syria, the Damascus regime having recovered most of the territories lost in start of the conflict.
“This flourishing relationship concerns me on a military level,” insisted General Grynkewich.
The conflict in Syria, triggered in 2011 by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, has left more than half a million dead, displaced millions of people and fragmented the country.
According to Alexus Grynkewich, the Islamic State group, whose self-proclaimed caliphate once controlled part of Syrian territory, was “eliminated”, after being defeated in 2019 by an anti-jihadist coalition led by Washington.
But “threats and risks persist” in Syria and Iraq, he warned.
“Russia and the Syrian regime would do well to focus on this threat, to prevent it from returning,” the American general said.
“Unfailing commitment”
Alexus Grynkewich was speaking from the United Arab Emirates, in a Gulf region where the United States’ wealthy partner monarchies are worried about a possible American withdrawal from the Middle East, with Washington increasingly mobilized in Asia.
The American official assured that his country remained committed to the security of its Gulf partners, in particular Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, the two richest and influential countries in the Arab world.
“We’re not going anywhere,” said Alexus Grynkewich. “Even without a signed agreement, I can just tell you that we have an unwavering commitment to security here in this region,” he said.
Such a formal security pact between Washington and Riyadh could, however, be under negotiation, according to a report published this week by the New York Times.