MenuRussian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow’s support of Iran’s aggression against Israel at a meeting with the Islamic Republic’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on October 11th in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Russia is boosting Iran’s military-industrial complex by purchasing thousands of ballistic missiles and “suicide” drones for its war in Ukraine.
Putin’s statement comes after Iran launched some 200 missiles targeting populated areas in Israel on October 1st and has been providing support to its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Islamic Republic and its proxies pose a serious threat to the energy sector, including oil and gas in the Middle East. Ongoing tensions in the Persian Gulf, where the US and Iranian navies have repeatedly had risky encounters, and continuing Iranian attacks on Israel threaten to escalate into a more intense region-wide military confrontation. This could lead to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which thirty percent of the world’s seaborne crude oil trade passes. Iran has repeatedly threatened to block the Strait, while Iranian proxies mount further attacks in the region.