The Associated Press reports:

As U.S. and Israeli missiles and bombs rain on Iran, Russia has responded with words of indignation but no visible action to support its Middle Eastern ally.

That cautious stance is driven by President Vladimir Putin’s focus on Ukraine and his apparent hope that the Iran war will play into Moscow’s hands by boosting its oil revenues and eroding Western support for Kyiv.

Putin sent his condolences to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, condemning the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last weekend as a “cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”

While Moscow’s failure to help another ally after the 2024 ouster of former Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and January’s U.S. arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro highlighted the limits to its influence, the Kremlin expects to reap benefits from the Iran war.

Russia already is profiting from a surge in energy prices over the war’s disruptions to tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and damage to energy facilities in Gulf countries. If hostilities escalate, a continued windfall would help fill Moscow’s coffers to finance military operations in Ukraine and patch the budget deficit.

The Kremlin also hopes the Iran war will distract global attention from Ukraine, deplete Western arsenals and force the U.S. and its NATO allies to reduce military support for Kyiv. [Continue reading…]