Iran's ex president considers Russia-Iran relations fragile

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 1 / Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/ The relations between Iran and Russia are fragile, former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in an interview to Iran Euro Asia Research Center's website. Rafsanjani, who's also Iran's Expediency Discernment Council's Chairman, mostly spoke about the Iran-Russia relations, noting that they've become cold in the past couple of years. The reasons for this, according to former president, are the "double nature of Russia's foreign policy", and the fact that "Iran wrongly assessed world politics after the Cold War". "Relations between Russia and Iran have changed due to new direction in Russia's foreign policy", Rafsanjani said. "This happened because of the political structure of current Russian government". "If earlier Russia's foreign policy was going towards common interests with Iran and security, then now it has changed to cooperation with West, self economic development and national interests," Rafsanjani believes. With regard to the "Step by Step" plan proposed by Russia, Rafsanjani said that it "shows that Russia shows initiative and want to bring positive aspects to Iran's nuclear problem". On July 13, 2011, Russia made a proposal for a "step-by-step" approach, according to which, Iran could address questions about its nuclear program and be rewarded with a gradual easing of sanctions. The Iran Six, comprising Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, have been trying since 2003 to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program. "Just like the West, Russia is worried that Iran can make a nuclear weapon, if necessary," Rafsanjani said. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az