
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made building ties with Iran, China and North Korea a cornerstone of his foreign policy
DW | Published January 17, 2025
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Moscow signals a deepening strategic partnership with Russia, focusing on military, nuclear, and economic cooperation.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the signing of a strategic partnership treaty.
Under the new partnership agreement, Pezeshkian and Putin plan to intensify collaboration across various sectors — including military, nuclear energy, advanced technology and financial cooperation to combat international sanctions.
Both Iran and Russia have been heavily impacted by Western sanctions — Moscow over the war in Ukraine, Tehran over its contested nuclear weapons program — and Pezeshkian’s visit underscores Iran’s strategic pivot towards alliances in the East, particularly with Russia.
What does this partnership really mean for Iran’s future?
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister, emphasized the significant role of Iran and Russia as major powers in shaping a new global order.
He described the Iran-Russia agreement not merely as a political document but as a roadmap for the future.
A key aspect of the deal is strengthening security and defense cooperation.
operation.
Drawing on their experience in combating terrorism and extremism, Araghchi noted that this partnership aims to enhance regional and global stability.
He told Iranian state TV that while it covers defense and security cooperation, “this is a complete and comprehensive treaty, not one focused on a specific purpose, such as a military alliance.”
Decades of Iran-Russia cooperation
This visit builds on the 20-year strategic agreement initially signed in 2001 under former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, which has been periodically renewed and serves as the foundation for collaboration in the energy, defense, and military sectors.
Although the details of the new treaty were not released, Iranian officials emphasize that it will bolster the framework of this historic partnership.
However, many experts suggest that, much like Iran’s previous agreements with China — such as the 25-year cooperation deal signed in 2021 — the full scope of this new deal is unlikely to be revealed to the public, raising concerns over the hidden costs of such secretive alliances.
While Tehran may view its partnership with Moscow as a lifeline amid mounting international isolation, analysts suggest that Russia sees Iran as a secondary player in its broader strategy, which centers primarily on securing its relationship with the West, particularly with the United States.
Russia’s collaboration with Iran is heavily shaped by its own objectives, notably its opposition to NATO , and the war in Ukraine.
Analysts suggest that Tehran’s role in Moscow’s broader foreign policy strategy is secondary to its negotiations with major powers, particularly the United States.
“Russia’s primary focus is on securing its interests with Washington, especially regarding NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe and Ukraine’s potential membership,” Ahmad Vakhshiteh, a senior lecturer at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) in Moscow, told DW.
“Tehran may benefit from this partnership, but Russia will ultimately prioritize its own strategic goals,” he added.
Military cooperation and tensions
Pezeshkian’s visit signals Iran’s desire to deepen its relationship with Russia. However, Tehran must also contend with the reality that Russia’s support is not unconditional.
Behrouz Esbati, a commander with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideological branch of Iran’s military, recently criticized Russia’s actions during critical military operations in Syria.
According to Esbati, Russia has repeatedly failed to provide essential logistical support and has even actively sabotaged Iranian operations, enabling Israeli airstrikes against Iranian targets.
The drone debate
One of the most controversial aspects of the Iran-Russia alliance is the accusation that Tehran is supplying drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine conflict.
Ukraine and its allies say Russia has used Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Ukrainian infrastructure, leading to significant civilian casualties.
In September 2024, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Russia had deployed over 8,000 Shahed drones during its full-scale invasion.
Additionally, the US Defense Intelligence Agency released a 2023 report confirming Russia’s use of various lethal Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukraine, highlighting their role in attacking critical infrastructure.
Tehran vehemently denies these allegations.
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SOURCE: www.dw.com
RELATED: Iranian president in Moscow for treaty signing with Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian shake hands as they meet in Moscow, Jan. 17, 2025.
VOICE OF AMERICA | Published January 17, 2025
MOSCOW —
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the signing of a strategic partnership treaty involving closer defense cooperation that is likely to worry the West.
Pezeshkian, on his first Kremlin visit since winning the presidency last July, will hold talks with Putin focusing on bilateral ties and international issues before signing the treaty.
Ahead of the talks, the Kremlin hailed its ever closer ties with Tehran.
“Iran is an important partner for us with which we are developing multifaceted co-operation,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Moscow has cultivated closer ties with Iran and other countries hostile towards the U.S., such as North Korea, since the start of the Ukraine war, and already has strategic pacts with Pyongyang and close ally Belarus, as well as a strategic partnership agreement with China.
The 20-year Russia-Iran agreement is not expected to include a mutual defense clause of the kind sealed with Minsk and Pyongyang, but is still likely to concern the West which sees both countries as malign influences on the world stage.
Moscow and Tehran say their increasingly close ties are not directed against other countries.
Russia has made extensive use of Iranian drones during the war in Ukraine and the United States accused Tehran in September of delivering close-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine. Tehran denies supplying drones or missiles.
The Kremlin has declined to confirm it has received Iranian missiles, but has acknowledged that its cooperation with Iran includes “the most sensitive areas.”
Pezeshkian visit to Moscow also comes at a time when Iranian influence across the Middle East is in retreat after Islamist rebels seized power in Syria, expelling ally Bashar al-Assad, and after Iran-backed Hamas has been pounded by Israel in Gaza.
Israel has also inflicted serious damage on the Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Russia too finds itself on the backfoot in Syria where it maintains two major military facilities crucial to its geopolitical and military influence in the Middle East and Africa but whose fate under Syria’s new rulers is now uncertain.
Putin met Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan in October and at a cultural forum in Turkmenistan the same month.
Pezeshkian, who is holding talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin before meeting Putin, is accompanied to Moscow by his oil minister, and Western sanctions on the sector and the subject of how to circumvent them are likely to be discussed.
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SOURCE: www.voanews.com
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