Iranian envoy opposes foreign forces' presence in central Asia

Iran's Ambassador to Russia Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi underlined that Tehran is against any form of foreign interference in the Central Asian region, particularly in the Caspian Sea. In a meeting with a number of Russian bloggers in Moscow on Saturday, Sajjadi underlined that Iran opposes presence of alien forces in the region of the Caspian Sea. The Iranian diplomat stressed that Tehran is opposed to deploying any foreign military forces in the Central Asia region. Early in July, the deputy commander of Russia's Caspian fleet said Tehran and Moscow are resolved to broaden their military cooperation in the Caspian Sea due to their shared geopolitical interests. “Iran and Russia have geopolitical interests in areas of national security and blocking alien meddling in Caspian waters” by countries other than the littoral states, Vladimir Mukhin wrote in an article in the Russian daily, Nezavasmaya Gazzetta. He said the Caspian littoral states are establishing similar military cooperation among themselves despite their differences in a bid to grow stronger in the Caspian waters, and said Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are seeking to establish active military relations with the NATO in the Caspian Sea. "For instance, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are turning their Okhtav and Baku ports to a transit zone for the pullout of the NATO forces from Afghanistan," he said. "Construction of such areas helps the US and other western countries to boost their presence in the region," the Russian commander cautioned. “Iran and Russia have realized that some Caspian Sea littoral states have turned to the West and they do not want the Iran-Russia alliance be strengthened in the Caspian Sea,” Mukhin said. Iran and Russia have recently expanded their naval cooperation through exchange of visits by their naval warships. Two Iranian Navy warships visited Astrakhan late in June. The Joshan (Shield) and Peykan (Arrow) vessels started their mission on June 25 navigating along the Caspian Sea and the Volga-Don Canal in Russia. The voyage by the Iranian warships spotlighted expansion of naval cooperation between Tehran and Moscow as almost a month earlier in mid April, a detachment of the Russian Pacific Fleet warships docked in Iran's Southern port city of Bandar Abbas. The Russian fleet, comprised of Admiral Panteleyev anti-submarine destroyer and two logistic warships of Peresvet and Admiral Novelskoy with a total number of 712 crews, entered the Army's first naval zone in Bandar Abbas on April 21.