Analysis: The Iran conflict is a boon for Russia’s ‘war machine.’ And it’s not just about oil | CNN Business

The Iran war has handed Russia’s beleaguered economy a much-needed lifeline. High oil prices are boosting the Kremlin’s coffers, helping plug a hole in its federal budget and sustain the war effort in Ukraine. But beyond oil, a global scramble for natural gas and fertilizer supplies – also choked off by the Iran conflict – could further boost Russia’s financial gains. “The biggest winner of the (Iran) conflict is Russia,” said Ben Cahill, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank in Washington, DC. The Kremlin can now sell previously discounted Russian crude “at full market prices,” marking “a pretty big turnaround” for the economy, he added. The windfall for Russia’s public finances comes at a crucial moment. Before the Iran war, “Russia was heading toward a genuine budget crisis,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, a Russia-focused research institute in Berlin. Although the latest Middle East conflict has not fundamentally changed the outlook for an economy structurally damaged by a drawn-out war, it has “bought time,” she told CNN. Quite how much time depen