Pepe Escobar
The Russia-Iran strategic partnership - even if does not include a military treaty - works in several interlocked levels.
This is part 2 of a two-part analysis. Please read part 1 here.
President Putin sent a gracious message to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, personally congratulating him on his election as Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Words do (italics mine) matter:
"At a time when Iran is confronting armed aggression, your efforts in this high position will undoubtedly require great courage and dedication. I am confident that you will honourably continue your father's work and unite the Iranian people in the face of an immense ordeal."
After stressing foreign "aggression" and continuity of government, Putin reiterated the strategic partnership in no uncertain terms:
"For my part, I would like to reaffirm our unwavering support for Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends. Russia has been and will remain a reliable partner for the Islamic Republic."
Cue to a desperate President Trump, or neo-Caligula, placing a call to Putin, essentialy to ask him to intervene as a mediator to convince Iran into accepting a ceasefire. What he heard instead was a polite enumeration of unpleasant facts regarding the war of choice launched by the Epstein Syndicate on Iran.
Trump is throwing his favorite envoy Steve Witkoff under the bus, alongside puny Jared Kushner and the push up clown posing as Secretary of Forever Wars, as the ones who forced him to bomb Iran. It's Witkoff who claimed after the phone call that Russia stated it's not transfering intel data to Iran, as confirmed, he said, by presidential assistant for international affairs Yuri Ushakov.
Nonsense. Ushakov never said such a thing. Russians at the highest political level do not comment on military matters linked to their strategic partnerships with both Iran and China.
Now for the facts.
Russian intel, Iranian execution, and no military treaty
It's no secret that Moscow has shared what can be defined as industrial amounts of intel - and combat data - gathered in Ukraine with Tehran. A great deal of the advanced jamming tech and satellite intel leading to the serial destruction of THAAD radars, Patriot radars, and every other ultra-heavy fixed radar installations comes from both Russia and China.
Even if footage of Russian S-400 and Krasukha systems successfully intercepting American missiles has not been released, and probably it won't be, the fact is Russian technicians are helping Iranian crews fine-tune the trajectories of missiles and drones during flight.
So there is a sophisticated, practical interplay in effect between Chinese and Russian high-resolution orbital imagery and targeting assistance, and swarms of cheap, $20,000 drones.
Russia provided Iran with the super-charged, upgraded and battle-tested Geran-3 and Geran-5 drones. These are the facto Russian Shaheds: lethal, inexpensive cruise missiles, equipped with anti-jamming via their Komet antenna, and able to reach 600 km/h. They are now all over the battlefield.
Now for the extremely savoury part.
Slightly over a week before the Epstein Syndicate decapitation strike on Tehran on February 28, Russian intel sent to the IRGC the fully developed US strike plan - complete with target matrices, launch platforms, timing sequences.
So the IRGC knew exactly what to expect.
Six weeks before that, in December last year, Moscow signed a 500 million euros weapons deal with Iran, including the delivery of 500 Verba MANPADS launchers and 2,500 advanced 9M336 missiles.
Essentially, Russia is providing Iran with intel and air defense. And China provides anti-ship missiles and real-time satellite surveillance.
The beauty of it all is there's no formal trilateral alliance in play. And no military treaty. It's all embedded in their interlocking strategic partnerships.
Considering all of the above, it's no wonder the puzzled Epstein Syndicate is blaming Russia and China intel for certified hits such as the satellite communications station part of the communications and cyber defense unit of the Israeli military near Beer Sheeba.
And we're not even talking about the next, inevitable Russian move: installing the extremely powerful S-500 Prometheus air defense system in Iran.
How to capture market share without breaking a sweat
The Russia-Iran strategic partnership - even if does not include a military treaty - works in several interlocked levels.
On the energy front. Moscow, under Putin's orders, is now evaluating what may eventually become a definitive pre-emptive halt of remaining exports to the EU, so they may be redirected to Asia at ever-climbing prices.
The EU after all is phasing Russian gas out: short-term contracts will be banned starting late April; full LNG ban by the end of the year; and ban on pipeline gas by 2027.
So a lot of LNG is already being directed to China, India, Thailand and Philippines. As in Follow The Money: LNG tankers diverted mid-voyage from European ports to Asia, offering higher spot prices.
Every day that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed - and it will remain closed - Russia captures extra market share, anywhere, at a premium, without breaking a sweat.
Secretary of Iranian Security Council Ali Larijani made it crystal clear in several languages, including Russian: when it comes to Hormuz, there are "open opportunities for everyone", as in partnership with allies Russia and China; and it's "a dead-end for warmongers", as in the Epstein Syndicate and other hostile entities.
Russia certainly does not need the Strait of Hormuz open. Still, it received a nod and a wink from Larijani acknowledging their partnership.
The Epstein Syndicate war on Iran is becoming immensely profitable for the Russian state budget - something not seen since early 2022 price hikes. With the Strait of Hormuz closed and Qatar LNG completely out of the picture, Russian energy is the only game in town: no more a sanctioned commodity. Talk about the war on Iran weaponizing Russian oil and gas.
What will India learn from its double betrayal
India, by contrast, is a case that could break any psychoanalytic cabinet. New Delhi is chairing BRICS in 2026. It's one of BRICS founders, and Iran is a full BRICS member. Every BRICS original member condemned the Epstein Syndicate war on Iran: Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa. India waited three days to basically say that Iran and the US should talk, "nicely".
While Prime Minister Modi was signing defense deals with that death cult in West Asia - 40% of its weapons exports go to India - a fellow BRICS member was being bombed with some of these very same weapons.
Modi in effect was in Israel gushing about "motherland" (India) and "fatherland" (Israel) only 48 hours before the death cult in West Asia and the wider Epstein Syndicate launched their decapitation strike on Tehran.
For all practical purposes, the Modi gang privileged weapons deals - and Trump's tariff relief - over international law.
And it gets even filthier.
India could not even issue a pro-forma statement condemning the American torpedo attack on Iranian warship Iris Dena on international waters - after the Indian Navy hosted Iris Dena in a military exercise. All BRICS founding members condemned it. Not India.
The controversy is still rolling: India may have even given the coordinates of the - unarmed and invited - Iris Dena to the Americans. And now Sri Lanka, under American pressure, refuses to hand over the dead bodies to Iran.
It will take time to evaluate how deep India's betrayal blew BRICS apart. As it stands, BRICS are in a coma.
Perhaps there may be something auspicious coming out of it. And that's thanks to unbounded Iranian finesse.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's Minister of Foreign Affairs, had a phone call with Abbas Araghchi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran.
Aragchi played it like a consumate gentleman. He did not lecture India, or exploded in rage - American-style. He was restrained, as in letting India know that Iran is fully aware New Delhi is in a very tight spot, and that Tehran interprets this strategic ambiguity as relatively useful, and not hostile.
In practical terms, Iran is virtually India's neighbor: Iran's southern Makran coast is right across the Arabian Sea from India's western shore. Kandla Port in Gujarat to Chabahar in Sistan-Balochistan is just 550 nautical miles. Talk about a maritime corridor, which for centuries was a Maritime Silk Road between two civilizational states.
And now it's all back, as part of the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), which links 3 BRICS: Russia, Iran and India, the theme of my 'Golden Corridor' documentary shot last year in Iran.
Moreover, Iran is the nearest major source of oil and LNG for India.
Russia is teaching India its own lesson. New Delhi will have to pay dearly for it - as in no more energy discounts, even if Moscow is ready to potentially raise India's share of Russian crude imports to up to 40%, as confirmed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
New Delhi may be out of the picture in terms of understanding the enormous stakes of the Epstein Syndicate war on Iran.
Moscow-Beijing though, are on a whole new level. They are investing on the optimal outcome: a war that the Empire of Chaos cannot win, and at a price it cannot afford to pay.
The stage is set. Russia briefed Iran on what was coming; Russia-China provide crucial intel and 24/7 satellite surveillance; and Decentralized Mosaic does the heavy lifting. The Exceptionalist strike "plan" was deeply compromised from the start.