Iran's Eurasian pivot is the key to averting WWIII

Washington's imperial ambitions and Tel Aviv's fanaticism have pushed the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation. But Iran's integration into the Eurasian axis offers humanity a vital off-ramp.

Matthew Ehret

Jul 22

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The world now teeters on the edge of a nuclear abyss, and were it left solely to the machinations of the US and the Israeli occupation state, we would have long since plunged into the inferno.

Before the joint US-Israeli assault on Iran, the world stood on the cusp of resolving the crisis over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. On 9 June, Russia and Iran signed a sweeping new agreement aimed not only at restructuring West Asia's energy architecture but also at offering a critical offramp from the road to war.

Russia's final warning to the empire

This agreement involves Russia’s Rosatom building at least eight new atomic reactors in Iran. Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s Atomic Energy chief stated that “We have a contract with Russia to construct eight nuclear power plants in Iran, four of which will be in Bushehr.”

This project was largely the outgrowth of the 25-year Russia–Iran Comprehensive Strategic Pact ratified by the Iranian parliament on 21 May and will be funded by Russia while providing over 10 gigawatts (GW) of energy to Iran. According to current plans, Iran intends to “increase nuclear power capacity to 20,000 megawatts (20 GW) by 2041.”

This agreement came days after Moscow extended an offer to salvage the stalled US–Iran nuclear negotiations by removing enriched uranium from Iranian soil and converting it into fuel for civilian reactors.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov declared on 11 June, “We are ready to provide assistance to both Washington and Tehran, not only politically, not only in the form of ideas that could be of use in the negotiation process, but also practically: for example, through the export of excess nuclear material produced by Iran and its subsequent adaptation to the production of fuel for reactors.”

This initiative, however, proved to be Moscow’s last act of good faith. As The Cradle reported, Moscow viewed the subsequent US-Israeli strikes on Iran as a grave betrayal, effectively ending any illusion that Washington sought a peaceful resolution. Russian officials, blindsided by the aggression, have since resolved to abandon their role as mediator and stand firmly with Tehran against further western escalation.

So why would Israel and the US choose this moment to escalate? The answer is clear: Iran's nuclear program was never the issue.

At the heart of Tel Aviv's calculus is the Islamic Republic's defiant challenge to the Zionist and imperial order. Beyond its support for resistance movements, Iran has played an outsized role in eroding western power by forging Eurasian economic and strategic alliances that bypass dollar hegemony and weaken US leverage.

These systemic threats, combined with Tehran's refusal to submit to the Greater Israel project – an eschatological mission to rebuild Solomon's Temple and establish a New World Order – have made Iran an unrelenting obstacle to western designs in West Asia.

Iran is not only a pillar of regional stability, having launched no war since 1736 and displaying extraordinary patience in the face of decades of western provocation. It has also become the lynchpin of Eurasian integration, anchoring both the East–West Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the north-south International North–South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).

^{Map of INSTC route, railways, and waterways connecting the east to Europe.}

Rail as the artery of a multipolar future

On 24 May, a new 8,400-kilometer rail corridor linking China's Xi'an to Iran's Aprin Dry Port was inaugurated. Dubbed a “silent revolution” in interconnectivity, this rail line slashes 16 days off traditional sea routes and consolidates a vital artery in the BRI, seamlessly connecting with the INSTC.

Chinese diplomat Wang Wenbin aptly described it as “a win-win for peace, development, and cooperation. The train to Iran is the train to the future.”

As Ritu Sharma noted in the Eurasian Times, “With no US military presence along the rail line, Tehran can export oil and import goods from Beijing without Washington's prying eyes.”

Beyond China, Iran's restored rail connections with Pakistan and Turkiye – the latter reactivated in 2022 after a decade-long hiatus – form a 5,981-kilometer corridor transporting goods from Istanbul to Islamabad in just 13 days, down from the 35 required by sea. Extensions into China's Xinjiang region are already underway.

^{Map of Pakistan–Iran–Turkiye railway.}

Standard gauge upgrades in Pakistan and ongoing construction on the Iran–Pakistan segment further integrate regional rail infrastructure. Meanwhile, the INSTC, conceived in 2001 by Russia, Iran, and India, is finally coming to fruition with over a dozen active participants across both sides of the Caspian Sea and including multimodal sea lines on the Caspian itself.

A newly operational line linking Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia's Ulyanovsk now enables direct trade of energy and industrial goods, while expanding access to Central Asian markets.

In the south, plans to extend Iran's Chabahar Port via a 700-kilometer rail link to Zahedan – providing landlocked Afghanistan with vital trade access – are set for completion in 2026. However, New Delhi's obsequious refusal to condemn US-Israeli aggression has cast a shadow over the project's future.

IMEC and the delusions of empire

Compared to these game-changing Eurasian corridors, the US-backed India–Middle East–Europe Corridor (IMEC), launched in 2023, is a geopolitical farce.

Whereas China backs its vision with robust national banking and real infrastructure, the IMEC consortium – led by India, Israel, and the EU – has built nothing tangible in two years. Bereft of credit mechanisms, energy planning, or large-scale logistics, it exists primarily as a marketing stunt, dressed up as a “Modern Day Spice Route.”

^{Map of India–Middle East–Europe Corridor (IMEC).}

This failed project joins a long line of western-led Belt and Road clones, from the “Green Belt Initiative” to “Build Back Better World,” the $600 billion “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment,” and the €300 billion ($327 billion) “Global Gateway.” All collapsed for the same reason: the west's structural inability to build.

After decades of deindustrialization, dependence on cheap labor, and casino capitalism, the trans-Atlantic economies can no longer produce, construct, or strategize without relying on the destruction of weaker nations to maintain unipolar dominance.

BRICS+ and the New Economic Order

In stark contrast, BRICS+ nations bring a different legacy. China alone has constructed over 42,000 kilometers of high-speed rail, including the world's only functional maglev railways, and dozens of advanced cities within two decades.

^{A map showing the rapid expansion of China’s railway network between 2008 and 2024, including the development of high-speed rail lines across the country.}

It leads in quantum computing, space science, and nuclear power – planning to build 150 new reactors by 2035. Its state institutions retain control over the private sector, unlike in the deregulated west.

Together with Russia, China offers real technology transfers and cooperative development models to poorer states, enabling them to build full-spectrum, sovereign economies.

Meanwhile, the US dollar system, propped up by a $1.2 quadrillion derivatives bubble, is approaching implosion. A new system is coming. The question is: Who will design it, and to whose benefit?

Russia and China have made clear they stand by Iran, condemning Israeli aggression and urging de-escalation. Even US President Donald Trump has at least hinted at restraint when he said he will “wait at least two weeks” before acting, and gesturing toward renewed diplomacy.

The Arab dilemma: multipolarity or servitude

Success depends partly on the resolve of West Asian, Asia-Pacific, and African states that continue to straddle both unipolar and multipolar camps. In recent years, Iran has fostered rapprochement with Sunni-led states such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkiye, Kuwait, and Egypt, raising hopes for a long-elusive Muslim coalition based on shared civilizational purpose.

But can they be trusted? Ask Bashar al-Assad, Muammar Gaddafi, or Saddam Hussein.

Whatever one's assessment, the time has come for the collective west to atone for its imperial crimes. Iran has paid dearly in blood and sovereignty, and Tel Aviv's leaders may have inflicted more damage on the future of Judaism – and the occupation state's own survival – than any enemy in history.

Assuming nuclear war is averted, the multipolar alliance must now double down on survival, solidify a new integrated economy, and anchor its foundations in a steadfast partnership with Iran.

If the Global South's fence-sitters fail to choose principle, sovereignty, and long-term vision over servitude to empire, then the road to a just, post-imperial future may remain perilously out of reach.

Originally published on The Cradle