Evading Sanctions: Can Iran, Russia, and Turkey Find Common Ground?

A recent report claims that Turkey plans to help Iran and Russia evade Western sanctions by creating an economic corridor between the three countries. It ignores significant political realities.

From left to right: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo before talks in Iran on July 19, 2022. Image source

Imagine an economic corridor that would allow Russia and Iran to practically evade Western sanctions. A recent brief by the Dutch think tank Clingendeal Institute envisions exactly that. The story became widely circulated across multiple mainstream media platforms amid rising tensions between the West, Russia, and Iran. However, a closer look at regional divisions shows that such an agreement between the three powers is currently unlikely. 

At present, each of these countries benefits from different economic corridors that feature some degree of access to markets in the West and the Far East; however, sanctions on Russia due to its ongoing war in Ukraine have limited the effectiveness of these routes in recent years. Moreover, with all three countries aligned in their position on Gaza and the Middle East increasingly unstable, such a corridor seems a natural choice for all three countries from an economic perspective. However, their political differences – especially regarding the South Caucasus – will likely limit multilateral cooperation moving forward.