“The big trouble for Russia is that Azerbaijan serves as an alternative to Russian energy exports, thereby weakening Russia’s key trump card used against the Europeans. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline goes to bypassing Russia. In addition, the proposed Trans-Caspian pipeline, which will run under the Caspian Sea and connect Turkmenistan with Azerbaijan, will mean that Central Asian gas can be transported to Europe, bypassing Russia and Iran,” notes Newsweek magazine.
“Iran’s goal is to overthrow the current secular government and replace it with an Islamist, anti-Western, anti-Israeli regime. If Tehran succeeds, the United States, Europe and Israel will lose a key energy supplier and a partner in the fight against Iranian extremism and the containment of Russian influence,” the publication emphasizes.
Newsweek
