Iran has been accused for several weeks of delivering drones to the Russians in Ukraine, even if Moscow denies it. The United States goes further today by claiming that Iranian soldiers are present in Crimea to help Russian forces use the famous drones. Is it plausible? General Jean-Paul Palomeros, former chief of staff of the air force and former supreme commander for the transformation of NATO.
Jean-Paul Palomeros: It is quite plausible since the Iranians have obviously given or sold drones to the Russians who discover this type of equipment. It is not illogical that the Iranians actually send personnel to help the Russians use it. And as long as the Iranians help the Russians operate these drones from Crimea, I don’t see what would stop the Ukrainians from trying to hit these facilities, if they can.
RFI: Does that mean that the Iranians are entering the conflict in a much broader dimension?
They are stakeholders. They still provide an ability which, right now, is a key ability for Putin, to attack in particular the nerve centers, the electricity generating centers. So they are very close to the Russians in this conflict. If in addition, they sent personnel on the spot, which is likely, that brings them even closer to co-belligerence.
This Russia-Iran alliance is not new. These two countries are allies on other grounds?
Yes, there is all the same a fairly general rapprochement between dictatorships and anti-democratic regimes. But there, there is an alliance which is in the process of being consolidated and on which we must reflect for the future elsewhere: how far will this go? The Russians are going to be, in a way, debtors vis-à-vis the Iranians. Will they continue thereafter in a logic of alliance, of true alliance? What about the Russian position on Iranian nuclear? I think they’re going to be relatively neutral, at a minimum. Could they, in the more distant future, help them? These are all questions that are being asked today. We are seeing a redefinition of alliances at the moment.
Russia is mobilizing its support in the Middle East, but also in the Mediterranean. Military maneuvers have just started with Algeria. Is this a way for Russia to mobilize support everywhere?
This is indeed an extremely important point. It recalls something that I knew well: the Cold War and in particular in the Mediterranean, at a time when the Russians relied on many countries of the Maghreb or on Syria also to deploy their means. It’s been a fear I’ve had for some time, that the Russians are trying to regain areas of interest. Just look at their involvement in Libya and you can see what is happening in Africa.
So these maneuvers with Algeria do not surprise me, they worry me a little, but here, for once, Algeria will still have to choose its side. That said, the Russians will try to destabilize Western countries, European countries, NATO countries, Alliance countries as much as possible and to expand their area of influence and perhaps find past areas of influence as was the case during the Cold War.
When you say it worries you?
If these maneuvers were transformed at one time or another into a more lasting alliance with countries like Algeria, we would have to ask real questions about the nature of the threat hanging over the Mediterranean.
Read also :
► Algeria announces the launch of maritime military maneuvers with Russia
► Washington claims that Iranian soldiers are helping the Russians in Crimea
► War in Ukraine: the tone rises around Iranian drones