China News Service, July 20 (Reporter Meng Xiangjun) On July 18, local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin set off for a visit to Iran, which coincided with the conclusion of US President Biden's visit to the Middle East.

　　Russia and the United States, the two rival powers, have refocused their attention on the Middle East. Is a new round of geopolitical chess battle about to begin?

Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[The front and back feet visited Russia to challenge the United States?

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　　This is the first visit to a Middle East country since Putin ordered Russian troops to enter Ukraine for a special military operation.

The last stop of his visit was two Central Asian countries - Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

　　Whether going to Central Asia or the Middle East, Putin's itinerary must be carefully selected when he takes time out to engage in diplomacy during the "in progress" of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

He visited Central Asia before and stated that he had three purposes:

　　·Break Western isolation

　　· Reassure regional allies

　　·Consolidate geographic influence

　　Putin's visit, a series of arrangements in full swing, the main purpose is similar to the last visit.

First, he met with Iranian President Raisi and with Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei; then, he held talks with Turkish President Erdogan; then, the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey held tripartite talks and issued a joint statement.

There are also reports that Putin may contact Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.　

US President Biden.

　　This time the timing is delicate. Biden just finished his visit to the Middle East with great fanfare, and Putin went. It is difficult for people not to associate with each other.

　　When Biden went to Israel, a traditional ally of the United States, Putin went to Iran, the nemesis of the United States; when Biden wanted to win over OPEC's "leading big brother" Saudi Arabia, Putin approached NATO's "thorny" Turkey.

　　In short, this is very similar to Putin's challenge to the United States: you can pull people around, and I can form an alliance. Russia has not fallen into the "quagmire" of conflict with Ukraine, and we also have some support.

It's still early to decide the outcome in the Middle East!

["Rolling the red carpet to welcome Putin" Iran abandons the dollar]

　　Putin just met with Iranian President Rahi at the sixth summit of the Caspian Sea Rim countries at the end of June to pave the way for the next visit.

Although some analysts say that under Western sanctions, Russia sold oil at a low price to ensure energy exports, dragging down Iranian oil prices to "break a bone", but Russia and Iran have common economic, political and military interests that have surpassed differences.

　　They are all countries that have been madly sanctioned by the United States and the West. Russia and Iran can be described as brothers and sisters. The core task of this time is to step up teamwork and deepen cooperation.

The United States has also come out recently, accusing Iran of planning to secretly sell "hundreds" of military drones to Russia to attack Ukraine, but Iran has refuted it.

Iranian President Rahi.

　　Qatar's Al Jazeera described Iran as "rolling out the red carpet to welcome Putin" this time.

Iran's economic situation is more severe than Russia's. It has long hoped to sign a long-term economic and trade agreement with Russia and come to a deep bond. This time, its wish has finally come true.

According to Russian media reports on July 19, Russia has signed a $40 billion foreign investment agreement with Iranian oil companies, which is the "largest in history" in Iran.

　　In fact, for Iran, the United States is most worried about the "time bomb" hanging over the entire Middle East - the Iranian nuclear issue.

One of the main purposes of Biden's visit to the Middle East is to speak harshly and reassure Iran's "old enemy" Israel: the United States promises to "ensure that Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons."

　　It's best not to talk too much, because the United States and Israel seem to be about to backfire.

Negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue have been stalled for several months. The United States does not lift sanctions, and Iran, which has no hope, has begun to seek another way out - to resume the enrichment of uranium that can be used to make nuclear bombs.

　　Recently, Khamenei's senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, head of Iran's foreign policy strategy committee, said that Iran "already has the ability to produce nuclear bombs", and "a few days" will be able to increase the enrichment of uranium from 20% to 20%. 60%, but "not yet decided" to develop nuclear weapons.

Data map: Iran's Arak heavy water reactor.

　　To translate, is that Iran has the bargaining chip, giving the United States and its allies a "last chance", and if they can't reach an agreement, they will go for nuclear weapons.

　　As a participant in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Russia has a strong say in this issue. After Putin's visit, it will be more difficult for the United States and the West to "kick away" Moscow to reach the Iran nuclear deal.

　　In addition, what Putin can "kick" the United States this time is that Russia and Iran are ready to abandon the dollar, and Iran is the first echelon of "crab-eating" in the Middle East.

　　The Kremlin announced the important news on the 18th that Russia and Iran will gradually abandon the use of US dollars to assess the volume of bilateral trade.

On the 19th, the Tehran exchange has launched the rial to ruble transaction.

　　The total economic and trade volume between Russia and Iran will exceed 4 billion US dollars in 2021. Although this is not a huge number, once the "sparkling prairie fire" of de-dollarization, many countries will follow suit. , especially in the Middle East, where it tries to control the lifeblood of oil and gas.

[Balancing relations with Turkey Putin plans for the future]

　　Compared with Iran, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has one more task, and that is to clarify the conflict of interest between the two countries with Putin and continue to approach.

Turkish President Erdogan.

　　Turkey played a delicate role during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

　　First, Turkey morally and militarily supports Ukraine, but economically opposes the abuse of Western sanctions against Russia;

　　Second, Turkey tried to act as an intermediary, mediating between Russia and Ukraine, hoping to reach a ceasefire;

　　Third, as a member of NATO, Turkey initially opposed it, and later agreed to Sweden and Finland to join NATO.

Switzerland and Finland "joined the treaty", which is contrary to Russia's position of protecting the strategic interests of the Baltic Sea and the Arctic region;

　　Fourth, Turkey will ask Russia to resume grain exports from Ukraine, its main grain supplier. Because of the lack of grain, Turkey's grain prices have soared.

　　But even in the absence of the above, the reasons that prompted Putin to leave at this juncture still exist - Turkey is about to attack Syria again.

　　Turkey, which has long supported the Syrian opposition, announced last month that it would launch new military operations in the northern Syrian cities of Talrifat and Manbij to fight Kurdish armed groups, a move for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government. interference.

　　Russia and Iraq, the two biggest supporters of the Assad government, have called on Ankara not to launch new attacks.

Syria is the only reliable stronghold for Russia to exert its influence in the Middle East. Of course, Putin does not want to see Turkey intervene in the situation and ultimately benefit the United States, which has troops stationed in Syria.

　　Therefore, as the guarantor of the "Astana Process" to promote the settlement of the Syrian issue, Russia, Turkey and Iraq must make Syria one of the key points of discussion.

Data map: The Turkish army launched military operations against Kurdish-led targets in Syria, causing infrastructure damage and people fleeing.

　　At this point, the purpose of Putin's two visits is very clear, and what he chose is the top priority of Russia's future strategic extension.

The situation in Syria, for example, is similar to that in Afghanistan, which borders Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, which Putin visited last time.

　　Russia hopes to enter the "post-American period" in Syria and Afghanistan, that is, the United States' strategic focus has shifted to the Indo-Pacific, and when the Middle East and Central Asia are strategically shrinking and their influence is weakening, they will consolidate their local geopolitical influence and seek alliances and common interests. Anti-US, accelerating the trend of de-dollarization.

　　Russia has not forgotten to step on the United States now. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdanov believes that Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia "can be said to be fruitless", and it failed to reach OPEC countries to increase oil production to alleviate high domestic inflation in the United States. The goal.

　　In short, the leaders of Russia and the United States have visited the Middle East successively, which may indicate that a new round of intense geopolitical game is about to start.

And the sound of the war drums is only one step away... (End)