Russian Account of a Strategic Agreement with the Islamic Republic
Iran and Russia are expected to sign a strategic agreement during the first official visit of Masoud Pezeshkian, the Vice President of the Islamic Republic, to Moscow. This document, known as a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, aims to expand political, economic, and defense interactions. According to the Kremlin spokesperson, it will serve as the basis for bilateral agreements in various fields. Recently, Kazem Jalali, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, announced that the new document consists of 47 clauses, but further details have not been disclosed yet. The full text will be published soon, as it needs approval from the parliaments of both countries. The new agreement is intended to replace treaties signed by Russia and Iran in 2001 (1379 in the Iranian calendar). While those treaties could be extended indefinitely every five years, in its twentieth year, the administration of Hassan Rouhani called for an update of the cooperation agreement with Russia. Subsequently, the thirteenth administration declared strategic relations with China and Russia as a priority in its international agenda.
Following the signing of a long-term cooperation document with China, the drafting of a similar document with Russia began, but its coordination took much longer than initial expectations and only coincided with Russia’s war against Ukraine, where Iran’s role in supplying arms and circumventing Western sanctions became prominent, leading to a new level of Moscow-Tehran relations.
Russian media have mainly focused on the following topics in their coverage of the comprehensive agreement with Iran.
Is the agreement with Iran similar to Russia’s agreement with North Korea?
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, dodged a direct answer to this question from reporters and simply emphasized the significance of this document for Russia. Several months ago, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, had stated that the agreement with Iran would pave the way for expanding military cooperation between the two countries. Kommersant newspaper quoted a senior diplomat, whose identity remains undisclosed, mentioning that cooperation in defense and security matters is a crucial part of the new document. However, in recent days, Kazem Jalali, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Moscow, emphasized that the new document will not include a mutual defense clause similar to those mentioned in Russia’s agreements with North Korea and Belarus. According to TASS and citing the Iranian ambassador in Russia, independence and self-sufficiency in defense and security matters are very important for Iran, and Tehran has no interest or need to participate in military alliances.
This is while Iran, along with Belarus and North Korea, is among Russia’s supporters in the conflict against Ukraine. Following the signing of the agreement between Russia and North Korea last summer, Pyongyang has sent its troops to assist Russian soldiers and has openly provided additional arms shipments.
Message to Donald Trump
Official authorities of Russia and Iran emphasize that the strategic cooperation agreement between Russia and Iran is the result of intensive negotiations over the past ten years, especially in the last two to three years, and is not related to current international developments. However, all Russian media outlets have explicitly conveyed the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement between Russia and Iran as a clear message to Donald Trump. According to the RIANOVOSTI news agency, Russia and Iran are taking a decisive step towards each other at a time when Donald Trump, the US President-elect, favors maximum pressure on Iran and does not rule out war with this country.
Vladimir Sazhin, an expert on Iran, said in an interview with Gazeta Gazeta that work on this document has been going on for years, and finally the conditions for its signing were met just days before Donald Trump entered the White House. This means that Moscow and Tehran are sending a message to Washington that they are united against the West, despite recent sanctions and instabilities in the Middle East. The Kommersant newspaper also emphasizes this issue, stating that Russia and Iran, by signing a new agreement in times when all eyes are on Washington and no one is sure about the steps of the new US government, are sending both a positive message and a warning to Donald Trump.
The newspaper adds that on one hand, the governments of Russia and Iran want to show Trump that they are ready for cooperation, and on the other hand, they warn that a united front has been formed against the West. If Washington pursues hostile steps, it will face a strong shield held jointly by Moscow and Tehran.
According to this report, given the significant differences in Russia’s relations with Iran and US policies towards Iran, it is likely that Moscow and Tehran’s cooperation will face a serious challenge immediately after signing a new agreement, leading to further tensions between Moscow, Tehran, and Western countries, especially the US.
Deepening Economic Cooperation
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, on the eve of signing a new agreement, announced cooperation with Russia in three important areas in this document: economic, scientific-technical, and cultural. Kazem Jalali, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, in a recent interview with TASS, referred to this document as the key to deepening economic relations and expressed hope that the signing of this document would continue the growing trend of economic and commercial interactions between the two countries. According to Iran’s ambassador to Russia, the trade interactions between the two countries exceeded four billion dollars in the past calendar year. Iran’s customs statistics estimate trade exchanges with Russia at 19 billion dollars during the current solar year’s nine months.
According to the article by Nikita Smagin, an expert on Iranian affairs, the decrease in trade between Iran and Russia, which peaked in 2020 at $5 billion, indicates that further growth is unlikely due to persistent fundamental obstacles preventing Iran and Russia from becoming important trade partners, despite officials’ claims.
Strategic partners’ disagreements
While Kremlin-affiliated media turn a blind eye to Moscow and Tehran’s disagreements, Iranian officials emphasize that Tehran will not recognize the occupied territories of Ukraine as part of Russian territory. The protest by Group Z, composed of pro-war Russia reporters against Ukraine, has turned into one of the most important news sources in Russia on Telegram within a limited media space in Russia.
Opposition media to the Kremlin have reminded that despite close cooperation, the relationship between Russia and Iran has been complex and accompanied by tensions. Reports by the Russian section of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty highlight the disagreements between Moscow and Tehran regarding the occupied territories of Ukraine, the Three Islands and Zangiabad, Moscow’s broken promises to Tehran in the implementation of economic and military contracts, as well as the issues that have arisen for both countries following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. Nikolai Kozhanov, a Middle East expert, stated in an interview with the Russian section of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that he believes the signing of the new agreement is only a historic step on paper and will not lead to fundamental changes in the relationship between the two countries in practice.
