Victim of the despicable US policy

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau paid a visit to Tehran, where he held talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Head of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

The official reason for the visit was the 80th anniversary of the arrival of Polish refugees in Iran. They found themselves on the territory of this country after the signing in July 1941 of the agreement on the restoration of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the Government of the Polish Republic in exile, which allowed thousands of Poles deported to various areas of the USSR remote from the western border to move to Iran. The army of General Anders, formed in the USSR during the Second World War, ended up in Iran, where it guarded oil pipelines. 

The current visit of the head of Polish diplomacy was clearly of an actual political nature. There is a certain mystery here. The fact is that Rau's visit to Tehran falls at the height of the Ukrainian crisis, and this topic was almost central in his dialogue with the Iranian leadership. At the same time, Tehran's position is well known. 

Thus, Raisi called the residents of Ukraine "victims of the despicable American policy”. According to him, they suffered from the treachery of Washington. In turn, Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahiyan, during a meeting with Rau, spoke about the need to "seek a way out of the crisis through political negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”. 

Rau, of course, defended the position of his country, which currently chairs the OSCE. But that wasn't the main thing for him. Warsaw foresees the possible signing of a nuclear agreement between Iran and the United States and is working out options for entering into broader cooperation with Tehran.

There is an opinion in Warsaw that Tehran does not intend to completely turn away from the West, although it is in an informal alliance with countries opposing it. Therefore, there is a temptation to withdraw Iran from partnership with such countries. There is another point. Poland is seeking to get closer to Iran in order to reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas.

Warsaw wants good relations with Tehran, but economic relations with the Iranians are incomparable with the vital dependence of Polish politicians on the United States. Warsaw has been making efforts for many years for the Americans to create a permanent military base on its territory, which would serve as a "barrier against Russian influence”.

This was the basis of the logic of Poland's policy, which was ready to get closer to Washington due to the deterioration of relations with Iran (especially during the presidency of Donald Trump). Now the situation is changing somewhat.

Therefore, it is safe to say that the current visit of the Polish Foreign Minister to Tehran is a trial balloon and diplomatic reconnaissance in many directions.