Amid the rising tension between the Islamic Republic and the US, Russia has been in a difficult situation. Should it unequivocally support the Iranian leaders despite their destabilizing behavior in the region? Moscow has been shrewdly avoiding any attemptto declare its robust and unconditional support for the Iranian leaders. When top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was killed on an order from US President Donald Trump last month, Russian leaders tried to avoid being dragged into the conflict, so they did not declare military support for Tehran. The only reaction that Moscow gave was an announcement of condemnation. President Vladimir Putin, in a joint statement with French President Emmanuel Macron, “agreedthat US actions have the potential to seriously aggravate the situation in the region.” In addition, in the midst of US-Iran tensions in May last year, Moscow did not offer military support for the Iranian regime when the US deployed a Patriot missile battery, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, the USS Leyte Gulf guided missile cruiser, Carrier Air Wing Seven, and destroyers from Destroyer Squadron Two to the Middle East in order to deter the Iranian regime from carrying out its threats, which included closing the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian leaders most likely expect more support from global power Russia. After all, the two countries share a common interest in counterbalancing and scuttling US foreign policy in the region. Russia’s ties with Tehran extend its regional influence and give it leverage that can be used to push the West — and the US in particular — to lift sanctions against Moscow. Since Iran’s 1979 revolution, improving ties with Tehran has been a major part of Russia’s foreign policy, as it has been using Tehran as a bargaining chip to reassert its global leadership. However, amid the latest developments, Russian leaders likely believe that the Iranian authorities are at least partially to blame for the rising tensions and, thus, the killing of Soleimani. As the Pentagon saidin a statement, Soleimani “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” It also said: “At the direction of the president, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Soleimani.” The strike itself “was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans.” The statement also pointed to the previous deadly actions of Soleimani and his Quds Force, which was “responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.” It is also not in Russia’s interest that the Iranian leaders have been increasingly exploiting their strategic advantage by issuing threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, which is another tactic in the asymmetric war strategy employed by Tehran. Then-commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Mohammed Ali Jafari was in 2018 quoted by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency as saying: “We will make the enemy understand that either everyone can use the Strait of Hormuz or no one.” And, last year, armed forces chief of staff Mohammed Bagheri said: “If our oil does not go through the strait, other countries’ oil will certainly not cross the strait either.” For Russia’s leaders, stability is critical in order to safeguard Moscow’s assets and interests in the Middle East. Therefore, not only does the Kremlin likely believe that the Iranian regime has brought on these problems by its own irrational actions, but it is also not in Russia’s interests that Tehran has been pursuing aggressive policies such as attacking oil tankers in the Gulf. In addition, Moscow does not want to see the rising tensions between the US and the Iranian regime lead to war, turning the region into a conflict zone. This might again endanger the hold on power of Syria’s Bashar Assad, Moscow’s key ally. Russia’s strategic interests in the Mediterranean Sea are intertwined with the political establishment in Damascus because the Syrian port of Tartus — its second largest — houses Russia’s only naval basein the region. In addition, Syria has been purchasing arms from Moscow for decades. Russian leaders likely believe that the Iranian authorities are at least partially to blame for the rising tensions. Dr. Majid Rafizadeh The rising tensions between Washington and Tehran are undermining the theocratic establishment’s efforts to support the Syrian regime economically and militarily. If the tensions spiral out of control, Syrian oppositional and rebel groups might become empowered once again and threaten Russia’s strategic and geopolitical interests in the country. Finally, as a global power, Russia has to maintain its international status and prestige. Demonstrating too much support for a regime that has been wreaking havoc in many nations in the region does not bode well for Moscow. Iran’s destabilizing behavior is inimical to Russia’s strategic and geopolitical interests in the region. Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view