by Yaakov Levi
Oil's low price is likely to drive Russia to make deals with countries that do not have Israel's interests at heart, said a security expert.
While a fall in the price of oil is welcome to consumers around the world – and to consumers in Israel – it might not be all that great for Israel's security, warn experts. That's because the low price of oil is likely to drive Russia to make deals with countries that do not have Israel's interests at heart, selling military secrets and weapons systems to countries like Iran, warns Sergei Guriev, a former advisor to the Russian government.
“The Russian government's budget for the next three years is built on a projection that oil will cost around $100 a barrel,” said Guriev. Much of the government's income comes from taxes on oil, but now that oil is around $77 a barrel and falling, the government is in deep financial straits, said Guriev.
Under these circumstances, he told business daily Globes, Russia was likely to face a major recession – and that could be bad for Israel. A weakened Russia may be more willing to take risks to rebuild itself, and would certainly look for ways to build its budgetary shortfall – by, for example, selling technology to Iran, which Russia this week did.
According to the head of Iran's atomic energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran and Russia on Tuesday signed a construction deal for two nuclear power plants on Iran's southern Gulf shores. Salehi's visit capped months of negotiations between Iran and Russia, and comes as the Islamic republic faces a November 24 deadline for a long-term nuclear agreement with world powers.
The two countries were recently finalizing the plans for Russia to build the nuclear power plants. Kamalvandi said back in June that after months of negotiations, the deal with Moscow would be signed and would see Russia building two more 1,000-megawatt plants next to Iran's sole existing plant in the southern Gulf port city of Bushehr. Russia and Iran, which are both targeted by international sanctions, signed a number of trade and investment deals in September to help boost their economies.
Yaakov Levi
Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/187346#.VGOJV8kYjLN
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