The Russian military recently held its annual RUBEZH ("Border") maneuver in the Caspian Sea region. The Iranian website Baztab, affiliated with Expediency Council Secretary and former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai, presented the maneuver, based on a report in the Central Asian press, as aiming to prepare the Russian army to respond to a possible U.S. military assault on Iran.
The following are excerpts from the Baztab report: [1]
"The maneuver, called 'RUBEZH 2006,' [which included] 2,500 troops from the armed forces of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, was held last week (August 24-29) in the port of Aqtau, [Kazakhstan]... on the basis of the 'Collective Security Treaty' [CST]. [2] Uzbekistan participated as an observer in this exercise; Belarus and Armenia did not take part in it.
"The maneuver was purportedly intended train [the forces] in combating terrorism, but was in fact a kind of military preparation [intended] to provide an answer to America's military threats in the region against Iran... Some believe that the maneuver, which was planned by the Russian military's joint chiefs of staff, was an exercise in preparedness for frontal confrontation in a possible American war against Iran in the region of southern Eurasia and in the Caspian Sea region.
"Military personnel and politicians regard the maneuver as a reflection of tightening cooperation among the countries in the region. Experts believe that the Aqtau maneuver will have decisive influence and importance with regard to future events in the region, since with the progressive intensification of American pressures and the possibility of an attack on Iran, it is expected that America's armed forces will be sent to the [Caspian Sea] region in order to defend the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the oil regions between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
"In parallel with the Aqtau maneuver, the armed forces of Kazakhstan and China conducted joint military operations in Kazakhstan in the context of the Shanghai Cooperation Pact. [3] These military operations revealed more clearly the signs of cooperation and military-security coordination between the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the member states of the Collective Security Treaty.
"Iran, which is a member with observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, continues to maintain informal relations with the Collective Security Treaty.
"Experts on military affairs believe that the Aqtau military exercise should be seen as a 'turning point' in the relations and military cooperation between [the countries] in the region...."
[1] Baztab, September 17, 2006; www.baztab.com/news/48400.php.
[2] The Collective Security Treaty, signed in September 2003 by Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus, and Armenia, is a military treaty to guarantee the safety of the region and of the member states.
[3] The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was founded in June 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with the aim of promoting economic cooperation among these countries and ensuring their military stability.
