Analyst: Russia went to Syria chasing dollars

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Much has been speculated about the short-lived Russian intervention in Syria’s civil war, when it dispatched jet fighters late in 2015 to do a variety of bombing runs, then abruptly pulled out early in 2016, but now a commentator has suggested that the foray into the conflict was, first, an attempt by Vladimir Putin to regain world power status, and, second, in pursuit of dollars, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

The comments come from journalist Orkhan Jemal, in a recent edition of the Russian independent, The New Times. His father is a Russian Islamic intellectual and chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia.

The commentary was cited by officials with the Middle East Media Research Institute in their analysis of the situation.

Many reports suggest that Russia got involved in the Syrian war at the request of Syria, whose president, Basar al-Assad, is using his national army to fight a wide range of insurgent efforts. Besides Russian Iran also has come down in Assad’s side.

When Putin announced his nation was joining the fight, he said his goal was to stabilize “the legitimate power in Syria.”

But then, only a few months later, he abruptly ordered a halt, and withdrawal of Russian participants.

The younger Jemal said the move clearly failed to establish that stability – or to give Putin the international status he wanted.

Get the rest of this report, and more, in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Jemal explained, “Russia’s main economic problem is low oil prices. In search of a way out of this situation, Moscow tried to reach an agreement with leading oil-producing countries to cut back… production – thus creating a kind of oil deficit and raising the price per barrel.”

“In February, Russia managed to interest Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela in this idea. Fifteen additional oil-producing countries gave their potential agreement to support the freeze. The Russian efforts nearly brought together the countries responsible for three-quarters of the world’s oil production. However, this deal would be meaningless without Iran’s agreement,” he explained.

And just about that time, Barack Obama was relieving Iran of sanctions, allowing its oil business to spike.

“The oil embargo against our ally in the Syrian war deprived it of leadership in the world markets. But in early 2016 the sanctions against Iran were lifted [as part of the JCPOA], and consequently Iranian oil suppliers are ready to fill any open niche. Therefore, it became necessary to persuade Teheran to hold off on its idea to capture the markets,” he wrote.

“However, [Russian energy minister Alexander] Novak’s meeting [aimed at persuading] Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh [to do so] was a dismal failure. Zangeneh declared that his country would not join the agreement, and would [aim to] regain lost ground. In the next three months alone, Iran plans to increase production by 50 percent, and ultimately to raise it from the current 1.4 million to four million [barrels per day]. Thus, the idea of raising oil prices can be written off.”

He cited the announcement Iran would not limit oil production – at the same time Russia announced it was pulling out of Syria.

He claimed, “The connection between the two events is rather obvious. Russia ended its involvement in the Syrian war for economic reasons. Iran’s participation in the proposed deal to decrease oil production would, in our opinion, have compensated us for our military expenses. Iran refused to pay the bill, and we refused to continue to participate in the war. Putin, who had trusted the Iranians but was deceived, left the battlefield and retreated to his tent, like an insulted Achilles. The objectives set for the [Russian] military at the inner circle’s secret meetings when Russia chose to become involved in the Syrian war will probably remain secret…

Get the rest of this report, and more, in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

 

from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2016/04/18/analyst-russia-went-to-syria-chasing-dollars/

from WordPress https://toddmsiebert.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/analyst-russia-went-to-syria-chasing-dollars/