Ex-MP says Iran’s foreign policy on Russia ‘naïve’

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a former chairperson of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, speaking to Entekhab news website, made the reaction after Russia sided with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its territorial dispute with Iran over three islands in the Persian Gulf.

Falahatpisheh said, “When the Iranian president’s entourage were counting the steps of the Kremlin, Putin’s agents were drafting a new anti-Iranian statement in Abu Dhabi,” referring to a recent trip by Raisi at the head of a high-ranking delegation to Moscow.

The former parliamentarian singled out the development as a ‘case of naivety’ in Iran’s foreign policy.

Falahatpisheh sarcastically recalled the remarks by the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari after the early December trip to Russia, saying, “They received Raisi very warmly in Russia. Putin took 76 steps to come down to the car to greet the president. Despite the heavy snow, he didn’t move until the (Iranian president’s) car started moving.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned Russia’s stance in support of the UAE’s sovereignty claims over the Persian Gulf islands in the sixth Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum held in Morocco.