TEHRAN
\nWhile Iran says it is opposed to war in Ukraine, it will not outright denounce Russia\u2019s military operation, instead blaming the West for NATO\u2019s presence in the region.
\nIran\u2019s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said in his first reaction on Thursday following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine the crisis is \u201crooted in NATO\u2019s provocations\u201d.
\nHe tweeted that Iran does not view war as a solution, and called for an immediate ceasefire and a \u201cpolitical and democratic solution\u201d without using words such as \u201cinvasion\u201d to describe the situation.
\nIn a similar but slightly longer statement, Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh added that \u201cthe Eurasia region is on the verge of entering a pervasive crisis\u201d because of NATO\u2019s movements led by the United States.
\nIt was in line with several other statements Iran\u2019s foreign ministry issued during the past few weeks, while top officials such as President Ebrahim Raisi have refrained from commenting.
\nThe reasons behind that approach can be traced to Iran\u2019s ties with Russia during the past few decades, its increasingly strained relationship with the West, and developments across the Middle East.
\nThe course of Iran-Russia relations in the past few decades shows a pattern of how Iran reacts to Russia\u2019s military actions in its immediate neighbourhood, according to Hamidreza Azizi, visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
\n\u201cGenerally speaking, Iran never condemns Russia\u2019s foreign aggressions, but at the same time, never recognises the territories Moscow brings under control either,\u201d Azizi told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TEHRAN While Iran says it is opposed to war in Ukraine, it will not outright denounce Russia\u2019s military operation, instead blaming the West for NATO\u2019s presence in the region. Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said in his first reaction on Thursday following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine the crisis is \u201crooted in NATO\u2019s provocations\u201d. He tweeted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-246451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n