Israel is pushing its unwelcome intrusion into Central Asia.
Its latest announcement on March 3 that it was opening its “permanent embassy” in Turkmenistan evoked immediate condemnation from the Islamic Republic of Iran saying the zionist regime’s destabilizing presence was unwelcome.
On a visit to Ankara, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian warned against the threat posed by the zionist regime in the Caucasus.
“Iran warns all parties to be vigilant about Israel and not let Israel’s presence in the Caucasus,” Amir-Abdollahian said while speaking at a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Ankara on March 8.
He also said terrorism originating from Iraq’s northern region is a common threat to both Iran and Turkey.
This was a reference to the Kurdish groups in northern Iraq that have made common cause with the zionists against the people of the region.
It is, however, not surprising that Israel is cozying-up to the autocratic regime in Ashgabat.
The zionist entity is a close sponsor of most autocratic and unelected regimes in the Muslim world.
Israel presents its relations with despotic regimes like those in Turkmenistan, Egypt or the UAE as an organic state-to-state and society-to-society relations.
A closer look, however, shows this to be more fiction than reality.
Nothing exposed this sham better than the reaction of ordinary Arab people in Qatar during the football World Cup 2022.
Many ordinary people from the so-called “Abrahamic Accord” countries refused to even speak with Israeli reporters.
Going back to Israel’s relations with Central Asian autocratic regimes, zionist interests in the region are primarily economic.
For the autocratic regimes, their interests are narrowly focused, aimed at securing their longevity in power.
The political aspect revolves around the fact that via the Zionist lobby, Central Asian autocrats hope to get the ear of politicians in western countries.
There is also an internal dimension, focused mainly on having access to Israeli technology to repress local opposition.
Israel also tries to project its presence in Turkmenistan as a move aimed at “surrounding” Islamic Iran.
If the zionist entity were to try and utilize any of the Central Asian states to cause serious security threat to Islamic Iran, there is nothing stopping Tehran from retaliating.
In fact, the chances of Iran’s bold retaliation against Israel in Central Asia are much greater now than they were prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Due to Russia’s difficulties in Ukraine, Moscow no longer has the stamina to object to deeper Iranian involvement in Central Asia.
Moscow would probably welcome Iran’s assertive role in Central Asia to keep a key NATO ally out of Russia’s traditional sphere of influence.
Israeli interests in Central Asia are aimed at cashing in on the new regional geopolitical balance of power but these are for petty economic gains.
With western sanctions on Russia, some Central Asian regimes are trying to position themselves as new regional economic hubs.
This is particularly true for Uzbekistan .
Its ties to Israel are strong due to a significant Jewish minority which actively took part in colonially settling in Palestine after the collapse of the USSR.
Uzbekistan and other Central Asian regimes are hoping to act as a bypass route for trade with Russia, circumventing western sanctions.
Considering that a significant portion of zionist settlers in Palestine originate from Russia, many of whom are prominent businessmen, it seems that Israel is simply looking to cash in on this phenomenon.
Israel is heavily subsidized by NATO member countries in economic, political, and military terms.
If Tel Aviv’s economic participation in Central Asia begins to facilitate Russian avoidance of sanctions, western powers, especially members of the European Union, will not be happy with Israel’s pursuit of its economic interests at the expense of Europe facing a war on its borders.