Thread: Hostile Russia!

Originally Posted by Garry

agreed, not all is about Shia and Suny. But still Iran and Russia have some unresolved issues - Caspian sea resources? influence over Central Asia?

What do you think?

Iran and Russia have a clash of interests over the resources of the Caspian sea. There's no doubt about that. As for influence over Central Asia, Iran isnt a major player there. Iran only has 'influence' in Tajikistan owing to the common language, culture etc between Tajiks and Iranians. Russia IS the major player in Central Asia, and the Chinese are getting there (in Kyrgyzstan at least). Kazakhstan has the potential to be 'player' itself and Uzbekistan does too, but these two i imagine will lean towards Russia in the mean time. Nobody has influence in Turkmenistan, which is an isolationist type.

Its not clear what agenda in Central Asia the Iranian government has, if it even has an 'agenda' for that region at all. So i wouldn't necessarily say that Iran and Russia have competing interests or 'unresolved issues' in Central Asia. In fact, Russia and Iran both have a shared interest in keeping the Americans out!