John Smith spoke to DW News about Russian president Vladimir Putin visiting Tehran as Moscow looks for ways to circumvent U.S. and EU sanctions, perhaps learning from Iran’s expertise in sanctions-busting.
“The sanctions against Russia are undoubtedly working in terms of imposing significant and unprecedented costs on the government of Russia and the Russian economy,” John said, noting that sanctions are giving Putin fewer resources to fund his war machine.
He added that Russia and Iran could seek to “prop each other up” by strengthening economic and military ties, “but as they are increasingly becoming global pariahs, they also risk being dragged down by the other’s decreased popularity on the global stage.”
Read the full article.