Iran - Russia Confrontation

The Iran - Russia Confrontation was a political dispute involving economic and military retaliation between Russia and Iran during Round 10. It ended shortly after begun without a major military conflict despite a variety of provocations by both sides.

Origins of Conflict
One of the principal objectives of Russia, played by LordoftheChris, during Round 10 was establishing energy security through a variety of economic agreements in Central Asia. Russia had recently ended the Uzbek Intervention on its terms to protect its sphere of influence in the region. Shortly after, Russian intelligence assets reported Iranian financial involvement with "terrorist organizations in Central Asia". Without further investigation, Russian officials considered it highly probable that Iran, played by Redbirdfan would continue with activities deemed hostile to Russian interests and decided to take action.

First Phase of Escalation
Initially, the Russian government decided to suspend the technical support of Iran's construction of the Bushehr nuclear facility. Publicly, Russia cited a lack of payment as the reason for the suspension while privately and sternly informing Iran of the actual reason.

The Iranian government reacted severely. It staged a mob assault of the Russian embassy in Tehran, resulting the deaths of several Russian and Iranian nationals. Russia strongly condemned the event as the work of Iran's intelligence services and a violation of the highest international laws and diplomatic protocols. Iran denied any involvement.

Third Party Involvement
Noting the possibility of a real military engagement, Russia activated the defense clause of the Commonwealth of Independent States and initiated military deployments to Turkmenistan, Iran's neighbor to the northeast. A Status of Forces Agreement was signed between the two parties granting Russia military access for the purposes of war and the construction of the National Military Highway to facilitate rapid deployment of the land battle component.

Turkmenistan, however, earned the ire of Russia when it signed a non-aggression pact with Iran. Russia threatened to suspend Turkmenistan's membership in the CIS, but did not pursue this action because of Turkmenistan's cooperation for hosting Russian military forces.

Second Phase of Escalation
Russia originally intended to deploy air combat forces and several special forces squadrons to Turkmenistan. Elements of Spetnatz conducting route and area reconnaissance missions in Iran to identify key routes, choke points, the status of Iran's border defenses, and minefields. Meanwhile, fighter aircraft regularly penetrated Iranian airspace to activate Iran's air defense systems in order to identify patterns and locations key to the country's defense strategy. During one of these missions, a Russian two-seat fighter was shot down by a ground-based missile systems. The pilots were captured immediately afterwards.

In a clearly rigged trial and against strong international protest, the Iranian government condemned the two pilots two death and had them publicly executed. The bodies were returned to Russia where President Vladimir Putin attended the military funerals and promised "justice". Putin ordered the deployment of a number of large military formations to Turkmenistan in preparation of military operations. He also ordered elements of the Black Sea Fleet, including Russia's sole aircraft carrier, to the Persian Gulf. Putin expressed his hope to politically intimidate Iran into compliance with Russia's demands: compensation for the deaths of the two pilots, unhindered investigative access into the Iran government to identify the culprits, and the extradition of the guilty to Russia for trial and imprisonment.

Internationally, Russia built a coalition in the United Nations Security Council to impose strict military and economic sanctions on Iran.

End of the Confrontation and Aftermath
The confrontation ended when the control of Iran switched players to Capo. He immediately made amends with Russia.