President Vladimir Putin and President Masoud Pezeshkian, representing two of the world’s most sanctioned nations, signed a twenty-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement in Moscow during Pezeshkian’s official visit to Russia last week. This landmark agreement enhances military and defence cooperation between Russia and Iran and establishes mutual security commitments, including a clause that neither country will allow its territory to be used by any other nation to threaten the security of the other. Furthermore, the agreement prohibits either party from providing assistance to any entity attacking the other.
Over the years, the relationship between Russia and Iran has evolved into a robust multifaceted partnership shaped by shared security concerns, strategic pursuits, and increasing political and military convergences. Faced with intensifying sanctions from Western nations, both countries have drawn closer to challenge the dominance of Western powers and the United States-led liberal world order. This agreement, under consideration for many years, comes at a pivotal moment, particularly in the wake of losing a staunch ally in President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
The Syrian civil war served as a catalyst for the deepening ties between Russia and Iran. Both nations supported Assad’s regime against rebel groups and external interventions, with Russia leveraging its diplomatic influence and air power while Iran-backed militias and special forces ensured ground support. Together, they shaped the outcome of the conflict, preserving Assad’s regime.
While their interests converged in Syria, they had distinct motivations. For Iran, Assad was integral to the Axis of Resistance or Shia Crescent, linking Hezbollah in Lebanon to Iran through Syria and Shia militias in Iraq. For Russia, Syria provided a strategic foothold in West Asia, access to the Mediterranean, and an opportunity to assert itself as a global power challenging US hegemony.
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement covers a wide range of sectors, including defence, counter-terrorism, energy, finance, and culture, aiming to structure the relationship between Russia and Iran for the next two decades. With 47 articles, the agreement spans collaboration in technology, cybersecurity, peaceful nuclear energy, regional cooperation, environmental issues, and combating money laundering and organised crime.
The agreement underscores mutual commitments to sovereign equality, respect for national interests, non-interference in domestic affairs, and adherence to international law under the United Nations Charter. One key provision addresses territorial integrity, a significant issue for Iran given the United Arab Emirates’ claims over three Gulf islands under Iranian control since 1971. Notably, the agreement does not address Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea or other territorial disputes.
The timing of the agreement is particularly noteworthy, occurring amid tensions following Assad’s fall. Concerns had emerged about friction between Iran and Russia, especially after reports of operational criticism during the Syrian conflict. A leaked recording revealed a senior Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer criticising Russia’s airstrike strategy and expressing frustration over denied requests for weapons to arm Iranian fighters.
However, the agreement appears to have dispelled such concerns. Nematollah Izadi, the last Iranian ambassador to the Soviet Union, noted that Pezeshkian’s visit and the signing of the pact signal trust-building efforts, reassuring Moscow of Iran’s commitment to the partnership, even amid potential de-escalation with the United States and the West.
Against the backdrop of historically complex relations between Russia and Iran, this agreement sets the stage for significant geopolitical developments. Its implementation over the coming years will reveal its true impact on regional and global dynamics.
Iran and Russia’s strategic agreement marks a pivotal moment in their historical ties, with expanded cooperation in nuclear energy, defence, and trade. Despite lingering challenges, the two nations aim to reshape regional geopolitics and counterbalance Western influence through coordinated policies
Historical Relationship between Iran and Russia
Historically, relations between Russia and Iran have been a mix of cooperation and rivalry based on geopolitical pragmatism. Russian expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries towards the South led to a series of wars resulting in substantial territorial losses to Iran. In the 20th century, the discovery of oil and Iran’s strategic location in the Persian Gulf saw the Russian and British Empires jockeying for influence in the Persian peninsula.
A significant shift in relations between the two nations occurred post-Iranian revolution in 1979 as they found a common cause in resisting United States influence in the region and opposing Western support to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. The collapse of the Soviet Union saw a deepening of the relationship between Iran and Russia in the defence, energy security, and nuclear sectors.
Cooperation in the Nuclear Field
One of the most significant pillars of the Russia-Iran multifaceted relationship has been Russian assistance, despite strong opposition from the West, in providing nuclear technology to Iran and building the Bushehr nuclear plant. Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, Russia, on the sidelines of the signing of the strategic agreement, told the reporters that, despite sanctions and tremendous pressure from the West, the construction of the second and 3rd units of Bushehr Nuclear Plant continues.
According to Iran’s Islamic Republic news agency (IRNA) negotiations with Russia for the construction of additional nuclear power plants, including small modular reactors, are likely to begin in the near future.
Russia and Iran in Syria and Perspective on Israel-Hamas Conflict, Hezbollah
Syrian conflict no doubt has been pivotal in bringing the two nations, Russia and Iran, closer. Both nations coordinated their actions in Syria to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and fine-tuned their strategy in the Middle East to maintain their influence and counter the United States and other powers in the region. Iran, a staunch supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, considers them essential proxies to counter Israel’s regional dominance and the influence of the West in the region. It remains unyielding in its commitment to the Palestinian cause and has been repeatedly calling for the destruction of Israel.
The stance of Russia on the other hand has been more nuanced wherein, it maintains formal diplomatic relations with Israel and seeks a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine imbroglio. The current agreement is silent on these specific issues which could be indicative of strong Jewish influence in the Kremlin.
Military and Defence Cooperation
Russian geopolitical standing, owing to the long-drawn-out war on the Ukrainian front and the Syrian regime’s quick collapse, has taken a beating. Conversely, Iran has been grappling with protracted sanctions, its continuing war with Israel, and the weakening of its proxies in the region. Both nations realise this and the current agreement is an effort to renew their commitment to each other in these troubled times. The defence cooperation between Russia and Iran in the form of intelligence sharing, supply of Iranian drones for the Ukrainian front, delivery of better Air Defence Systems, and sharing of sensitive technologies may see a fillip in the years to come.
Shared Commitment to Confront Global Hegemony
Both nations, over the last few years, have been working out mechanisms to bypass increasingly bitter sanctions from the West. Their commitment to finding alternate trade routes to the warm waters of Asia through the North-South Corridor, participation as full members in groupings like BRICS and SCO and raising a collective voice for a multipolar world, finding ways to continue trading through alternate banking arrangements, their shared steadfastness to countering perceived hegemonic designs of the collective west and the US Neo-imperialism, finds resonance in the 47 clauses of the Strategic agreement signed between the two nations.
India shares a millennia-old relationship with Iran and has been among the top five trading partners of Iran in recent years. For India, Iran’s Chabahar port acts as a gateway to Central Asia and Afghanistan and is an indispensable link for its connectivity to Russia through the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)
Middle East Research Division at the German Institute for International Security Affairs said: “The two sides have taken steps to elevate their relationship toward some sort of strategic partnership, particularly in areas like military and security cooperation, and more recently in economic cooperation, aimed at evading sanctions and adapting to the negative implications of economic pressures from the West.”
Impact on India
India shares a millennia-old relationship with Iran and has been among the top five trading partners of Iran in recent years. For India, Iran’s Chabahar port acts as a gateway to Central Asia and Afghanistan and is an indispensable link for its connectivity to Russia through the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). With Russia, India shares a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” which has stood the test of time and is based on the multilateral institutionalised dialogue mechanisms including, Annual Summit meetings between the top leadership. It has been one of the steadiest longstanding relationships between two major nations, with a shared commitment towards a multipolar world, in ever changing dynamics of the World order.
Owing to the geographical divide, India and Russia have been working on various connectivity initiatives to expand bilateral trade. The commitment of Iran and Russia in the current Strategic Agreement, to focus on developing International Transit Corridors for trade through Central Asia, especially INSTC, would be extremely significant in enhancing India’s strategic and trade engagements with Russia and Central Asia.
Discordant Notes
Despite the usual bonhomie and warmth associated with the signing of the strategic agreement in the shadow of prolonged wars, the agreement does not include a mutual defence clause unlike in the treaty, that Russia signed with North Korea just last year. Moving forward on the Syrian front, both nations will have to recalibrate their relations with the new government; with Russia vying to maintain its air and naval bases in Syria and Iran, consolidating its hold in the buffer zones of Iraq and looking for avenues to support its proxies across Syria.
As Donald Trump assumes office with the stated focus of ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia may find it difficult to deliver on its stated promises concerning Nuclear Technology to Iran. Historically too, Iran had accused Russia, of repeatedly stalling the construction of Bushehr nuclear power plant throughout the first decade of the new Millennium.
Takeaways
On the eve of the signing of the document President Putin said, “This truly breakthrough document is aimed at creating the necessary conditions for the stable and sustainable development of Russia and Iran and our entire Eurasian region.” Despite certain misgivings, it is felt that the relationship between Russia and Iran is multidimensional and shaped by strong strategic, defence, political, and economic pillars.
Considering the existential threat that Russia perceives from the Western expansion of NATO and Iran finding itself more and more isolated in the Middle East, the trajectory of the relationship between Iran and Russia may not alter substantially. The Strategic Agreement is likely to upgrade the friendly interstate relations between Russia and Iran to a new level and give them a comprehensive, long-term, and a strategic character.
The writer, Kirti Chakra, AVSM, VSM, is an Indian Army veteran. He has also served as the Indian Military Attaché in Moscow. An accomplished scholar, Maj Gen Mehra specialises in Geopolitics with a focus on Russian Studies and is currently pursuing his PhD in the field, further enriching his depth of knowledge and global perspective
