East market

On February 14, it became known about the sudden cancellation of the visit of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to Tehran - for "technical reasons"

Russian government sources told the Kommersant newspaper that the high-ranking official expressed his indignation in this way: the Iranian authorities allegedly reported in the press about the trip, which he asked to be kept secret.

Most of all, relations between Moscow and Tehran resemble trade in an oriental bazaar: when the seller and the buyer are talking peacefully, discussing the quality of the goods, then they suddenly begin to swear, rolling their eyes wildly. Recall how last summer the Iranian authorities first allowed Russian bombers to be based on their airfield, and then kicked them out, also stating that the Russians, wanting to raise their authority in the Middle East, divulged information about this. Now history is repeating itself exactly the opposite.

The secrecy of the trip is explained by the fact that Rogozin, according to the same sources, was supposed to conduct delicate negotiations on the sale of Russian civil aircraft to Iran. It turns out that Tehran initially promised to buy a hundred Russian Superjet. But when (not without Moscow's assistance) international sanctions were lifted from Iran, the local authorities changed their minds and decided to buy as many as 50 Boeing-737 and 30 Boeing-777 aircraft, as well as about a hundred more Airbus aircraft.

If this is the essence of the conflict, then it should be noted with regret: Moscow has been stepping on the same rake for the last 20 years. It provides various kinds of assistance to dictatorial and authoritarian regimes, hoping that in return they will provide Russia with all sorts of political and economic preferences. And every time she gets terribly upset when authoritarian rulers "throw" her. So it was, for example, in 2000: Kim Jong Il, the father of the current North Korean leader, first promised Putin to stop missile tests, and then, without flinching, said that he was just joking.

In fact, authoritarian rulers are anything but fools. If they need to communicate with the civilized world, they do not need Russian mediation at all. And they are not going to pay for it.

In this case, we are talking about obvious economic interests. The Iranians want to upgrade their fleet of medium-haul aircraft capable of carrying 150-200 passengers. Superjet does not meet these requirements. Unfortunately, Russia does not produce other passenger aircraft at all. So what, you ask, be offended?

But it's probably something else. Recently, Russia has been trying to turn relations with "problem" states into trump cards in relations with the West: either you, the West, do what we want, or we start supplying weapons to those you fear. This is exactly what happened with Iran when Moscow first suspended the implementation of military contracts, and then, when relations with Washington finally deteriorated, they resumed them.

New US President Donald Trump has declared Iran one of the main opponents of the United States. But the fact is that on February 14, the Kremlin was still counting on a “big deal” with America – both on the issue of extending the START Treaty, which expires in 2021, and on Ukraine. And therefore, it was completely out of hand for Moscow to report on the negotiations in Tehran of the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the military and nuclear industry. However, a few days later it became clear that there would be no deals with Washington in the near future. And Moscow, according to the Fox News channel, immediately defiantly accepted Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who is accused of killing hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq and against whom personal UN sanctions have been imposed.

As for the visits, the matter will not follow them either: judging by press reports, First Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov and Energy Minister Novak are already going to Tehran ...