Astana seeks support from Tehran
Kazakhstan wants to break the Islamic Republic's international isolation. It is President Tokaev's 'multipolar' policy: an insurance policy against Russia's aims towards his country. The Kazakh government determined on the road to internal reforms.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - The 18th session of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan will be held in Astana in the coming days, the official Iranian news agency Isna reported. Tehran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari, delegate for economic diplomacy, is quoted as saying that a high-level delegation from the Islamic Republic will visit Kazakhstan.
According to Safari, "crucial issues concerning cooperation between the two states in various spheres, including banking, transport and transit of goods, agriculture and trade development plans, energy and reciprocity of hubs will be evaluated. Several bilateral documents are expected to be signed.
Official channels of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs do not yet contain any information on the planned meeting with the Iranian counterpart. The previous meeting of the Commission took place in February 2022 in Tehran.
Iran has been under international sanctions for many years now, which among other things prohibit the export to its territory of any kind of technology that can be used in the military or in the oil sector, in addition to the nuclear sector. Last autumn, anti-government protests began, especially by women who refuse to wear the veil, which were repressed with unprecedented violence. Over 500 people were reported killed, and thousands arrested.
Power in Tehran is in the hands of the most conservative faction, after Ibrahim Raisi replaced the representative of the moderate wing, Hasan Rouhani, in power for eight years, in the 2021 elections. Raisi, former head of Iran's judiciary, had taken part in crackdowns on protests in the past, and is the subject of personal sanctions by the United States and the European Union for human rights violations.
In June, Kazakh President Kasym-Žomart Tokaev made his first official visit, suggesting that he wanted to help break Iran's international isolation. Shortly after his mission to Tehran, Kazakhstan introduced a two-week visa-free entry rule for citizens of India, China and Iran.
On 7 November, Astana Foreign Ministry spokesman Ajbek Smadjarov had announced at a briefing that Tehran, too, 'with the aim of developing and strengthening relations between our two countries', had introduced the visa-free entry regime for citizens of Kazakhstan, who can then freely stay on Iranian territory between 14 and 42 days, within a period of 180 days.
Kazakhstan's 'multi-polar' policy thus confirms that it wants to offset every opening in one direction with others in the opposite direction, from the EU to Turkey, from the US to Russia and Iran, also to ward off the bogeyman of the 'federalisation' of the country by Russia, a project of Moscow's about which rumours continue to chase each other in the local and international press.
Alongside the foreign policy openings, the Tokaev presidency intends to show determination on the road to internal reforms. The dissolution of parliament in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections has been announced; deputies are already packing their bags, and several groups are trying to obtain the necessary qualifications to stand in the elections, hoping to gain more space than in the recent presidential elections, which were in fact monopolised by the outgoing president.
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15/03/2023 12:01
26/09/2022 11:25
