Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Tehran seeking diplomatic legitimacy and protection from Western-led sanctions

Transcript

Tehran seeking diplomatic legitimacy and protection from Western-led sanctions · THE DAILY BRIEF

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, Iranian President
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Massoud Pesachian met with the United Arab Emirates Crown Prince,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nayan. It was the two countries' highest-level
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: meeting since the start of the Iran war. Iran has
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: attacked the UAE several times because it houses US military forces.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Both sides signed the BRICS declaration calling for maximum restraint
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: in the.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: Middle East war.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: In an interview with Indian media, Pesachian said, His country
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: was not at war with Saudi Arabia and that the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: foreign ministers of Arab nations and Iran will meet in
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Oman on Monday to discuss the situation in the Strait
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: of Hormuz. All right, I'm now joined by Alex Batanka.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: He's the founding director of the Iran program at the
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Middle East Institute in Washington. Hello and welcome to DW News. Now,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: with the Strait of Hormuz disrupted and Houthis threatening shipping
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: in the Red Sea, how much leverage did Iran bring
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: to the summit?
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: It is great to be with you.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Look, the Iranians, I think at this point, based on
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: what I've heard come out of India from this summit,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: are probably pretty happy. They've certainly gotten more than they
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: did last time foreign ministers of these 11 countries that
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: are members of BRICS were willing to do. This joint
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: statement that you mentioned where Iran and UAE signed.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Off, it's a sign of a progress, if you will.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Essentially, it's kind of a suggestion by them that any
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: future plans by the United States to attack Iran's nuclear
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: program should be condemned.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: So again, if you're Iran, this is good news.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Whatever that means in terms of shaping American calculations, that's
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: a different story.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: But if you were.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Iran and you went to this summit, hoping that the Russians,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: the Indians, the Chinese will all agree how to help
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Iran in the war. Well, that didn't happen. And that
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: shouldn't surprise anybody. I don't think the Iranians expected that either.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: I really want to understand the sort of relationship that
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: is here. So how important is BRICS for Iran and
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: how important is Iran for BRICS?
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Look, um, Iran has spent about 25 years now trying
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: to move closer and closer to Russia and China with
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: the single aim of moving closer to those two countries,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: helping Iran in its standoff with the Americans. And to
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: some extent, Iranians have been disappointed over the last quarter
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: of a century because most of the support they've gotten
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: from the Russians, the Chinese, has been on the political
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: rhetorical side as opposed to on the practical side. For example,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: in this summit in India, Russia and China and the
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: others didn't agree to condemning the American.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: And Israeli attack on Iran. Again, that tells you something.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: But, you know, it's still important for a country that
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: has been isolated for decades to suddenly sit in this
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: club with a country.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: As large as Brazil, as Russia, as China, as India.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: So I think the Iranians would take comfort from the
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: fact that they can say, well, we're sitting with the
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: big boy's And we're not alone.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: And again, that psychologically, at the very least, is important.
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: How important is Iran for BRICS?
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: BRICS fundamentally is about distribution of power away from the
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: West and sort of empowering the so-called global South.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: And Iran is a country of 90.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Million people and therefore could be an important player. But
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: let me just very quickly point out, certainly on the
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: case of the host country, India, the Indians have.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: Made it very clear.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: They do want to see more distribution of power around
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: the world. That doesn't mean they want to turn BRICS
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: into an anti-Western bloc.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: And that, again, is a really.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Important factor for us to keep in mind as we
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: see Iran's position inside BRICS.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: Right, right.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: That was a very important point. Iran and the UAE,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: as we said earlier, they've joined a BRICS call for
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: restraint despite being on opposing sides of the regional conflict.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Is this a meaningful diplomatic breakthrough that you think could
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: lead to de-escalation?
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Could be.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, there are so many moving parts to this.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Number one, I point out that the presence of Crown
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Prince Khaled here from UAE is important. He's going to
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: be the future leader of a rising power in the
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Middle East, the United Arab Emirates. The fact that he's
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: been sent here to me is quite symbolically important. UAE
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: is obviously very upset. They've been hit by the Iranians
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: over the last six months. And the Iranians have their
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: case against the UAE, as you just mentioned.
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: In your introduction.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: But the point is, UAE and I would say probably
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: the rest of the Gulf Arab countries right now are
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: doing one thing more than anything else, which is to
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: create the conditions where there are no longer frontline states in.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: This American-Iranian conflict.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: That doesn't mean UAE likes the Islamic Republic, its policies.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: That means UAE and Iran are trying to sort of
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: see if they can navigate a way forward where UAE
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: and the other Gulf Arab states are no longer taking
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: the brunt of Iranian retaliation each time the Americans attack Iran.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Right. I mean, not just the UAE being hit by Iran.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia has also been hit by Iran. They are
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: present at the summit. Iran's president says his country is
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: not at war with Saudi Arabia. Are we seeing any
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: meaningful developments from that side?
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, if I was sitting in Riyadh, I don't
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: know what to make of that.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: I think what's happening right now in the region with
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: the attack on the pipeline, which the pro-Iran militias have
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: now taken essentially responsibility for, or what's happening in the
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Bab al-Mandeb with the Houthis now taking the entire Red
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Sea coast, these things are not accidental. Iran has a
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: role to play, probably the main coordinator architect. And again,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: if you're sitting in Riyadh, Iran is encroaching. The question is,
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: what is Saudi Arabia's response to this Iran edging closer
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: and closer to their interest?
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: That remains to be seen.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: But one final point I make on this issue is,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: If you were a Gulf Arab leader today and you
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: look at the American president, Donald Trump, and hoping that
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: he has the solution to all your security dilemmas, you're
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: going to be left disappointed because clearly Donald Trump does
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: not have a solution to what's going on right now,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: certainly as far as the recent days are concerned in Yemen.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Right. It's always a pleasure talking to you, Iran expert
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Alex Batanka from the Middle East Institute.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Thank you. Thanks.