04.05.2005, 22:08
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050504/39817504.html">http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050504/39817504.html</a><!-- m -->
Zitat:U.S. IN CASPIAN REGION AND RUSSIA'S POSITION
MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti commentator Pyotr Goncharov). Iran has offered support for a Russian initiative on the Caspian Sea states alone establishing a joint rapid reaction force in the region.
"These Caspian states should come to terms on the establishment of a rapid reaction force," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi.
Russia's initiative initially envisaged more than efforts to combat international terrorist attacks against the region and to avert other common threats. It was also designed to prevent countries from outside the region, above all the U.S., from becoming involved in the affairs of the region, which the U.S. has included in the zone of its interests. This fully met Iran's interests. Will Russia and Iran be able toprevent an American presence in the Caspian region?
The idea of forming a rapid reaction coalition force in the Caspian region is not new. In August 2002, the Russian Caspian flotilla conducted naval exercises in the Caspian to practice rapid reactions not only to terrorist attacks on oil pipelines but also to emergency situations in Caspian countries. A high-ranking representative of Iran's navy who was present at the exercises praised Russia's naval strength there and recalled with delicate irony that both Moscow and Tehran were in favor of "preventing the militarization of the Caspian region." His irony was to the point because Tehran's call for the other Caspian states to join Russia's initiative may seem belated.
...