The writer is a programme director at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and author of the forthcoming book ‘We Shall Outlast Them: Putin’s Global Campaign to Defeat the West’
Two months into the Iran war, Russia has secured tangible benefits. It has raked in extra billions in oil revenues. It has stepped up its ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine, which suffers from a shortage of air defences. And it can watch gleefully as Operation Epic Fury turns into the US’s own “special military operation” gone awry.
Yet, the war has also had an unwelcome side effect for Vladimir Putin: it has put Ukraine on the Middle Eastern map. Woefully unequipped to deal with Iranian drone and missile attacks, the Gulf states have turned to Ukraine for support. While such co-operation hardly heralds a definitive pivot away from Moscow for these countries, it marks the latest setback for Russia, which has in recent years seen its fortunes decline in the Middle East.