Focus at Four: Expert weighs in on Iran’s involvement in the Ukraine war
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – This week, the U.S. imposed sanctions on seven people and four companies in China, Russia and Turkey, which officials allege are connected with Iran’s drone program development. The U.S. is accusing Iran of supplying Russia with drones used to bomb Ukrainian civilians as the Kremlin continues its invasion of Ukraine. Iran continues to condemn the war in public, but an expert says that in reality, it is an entirely different story.
“The Ukrainians have the have the parts of the Iranian manufactured drones that the Russians are using. There’s just no doubt about the fact that the the Iranians have thrown in their lot with the Russians on this and they’ve made a choice,” says Gregory Gause, a professor in the Department of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government.
Gause mentions that what Russia is doing is not ordinary in the world we are currently living in. And, the unspoken ideals, particularly of European countries are being violated.
“The extent that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is called into question some of the basic rules of the of the road in the post-World War II era. You don’t acquire territory by force, you don’t invade your neighbors,” said Gause.
But at the end of the day, neither country wants conflict, as evidenced by Iran continuing to say they don’t agree with the war in Ukraine.
“I think that that there’s a desire on both the American and the Iranian side to avoid a blowup. In our case, because of negotiations that are going on about Saudi Arabia and Israel, perhaps normalizing relations and just the general idea that the Biden administration doesn’t want to have some kind of conflict in the Persian Gulf,” said Gause.
