Russia and Iran on Friday signed a new treaty supporting their economic and military cooperation, which both sides consider an important milestone in their relations.
Moscow has considered the Islamic republic a strategic ally since sending troops to Ukraine in February 2022, worrying Western officials who see both malign actors on the world stage.
The two sides agreed to help each other counter common “security threats,” according to a copy of the text released by the Kremlin. But they did not reach a mutual defense pact like the one signed between Russia and North Korea last year.
They also agreed that if either party were subjected to aggression, the other would not provide “assistance to the aggressor.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, who signed the agreement together in a ceremony in the Kremlin, hailed the agreement as a new chapter in their relations.
“This truly innovative document aims to create the necessary conditions for the stable and sustainable development of Russia and Iran and our entire Eurasian region,” Putin said.
Pezeshkian said the pact would “open a new chapter in relations between Iran and Russia in all fields, especially in the field of economic cooperation.”
‘All areas’
The two sides agreed to “support trade and economic cooperation in all areas,” a key point as both sides step up trade in the face of heavy Western sanctions on their energy industry.
They also agreed to cooperate in the training of military personnel, as well as to formalize the docking of warships and vessels in each other’s ports.
The agreement made no explicit reference to arms sharing, an area of cooperation that the West has sanctioned.
Iran has already supplied Russia with self-detonating “Shahed” drones that Moscow fires at Ukraine in nighttime bombing raids, according to Ukrainian and Western officials.
Sitting next to Putin in the Kremlin after signing the treaty, Pezeshkian called for a political agreement to end the nearly three-year conflict.
“I would like to remind that war is not an adequate solution to solve problems and we welcome the negotiations and the achievement of peace between the two countries of Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
Moscow and Tehran had been working on a new treaty for years. Their previous relationship was governed by a 2001 document that they have periodically renewed.
They share a complicated history. Iran and Russia fought wars in the 18th and 19th centuries over lands in the Caucasus, and the Soviet Union and Britain launched a joint invasion of Persia during World War II.
‘Global hegemony’
Putin has made establishing ties with Iran, China and North Korea a cornerstone of his foreign policy as he seeks to challenge what he calls a U.S.-led “global hegemony” amid his offensive in Ukraine.
Tehran has also sought closer ties with Moscow, after suffering a series of foreign policy setbacks last year.
A rebel offensive last month toppled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, and a conflict between Israel and Tehran’s ally Hezbollah substantially weakened the militant group.
Speaking ahead of a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas coming into effect, Pezeshkian said he hoped “a permanent ceasefire will be established in Gaza and that aggression on this land will end.”
Putin also expressed hope for “long-term stabilization” in Gaza and called on the world not to “weaken efforts for a comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of international law.”
Pezeshkian’s visit to Russia also comes just days before Donald Trump, an Iran hawk, returns to the White House.
The president-elect of the United States, seeking a quick end to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, has issued repeated military threats against the Islamic republic.
During his first term, the Republican withdrew from a multinational deal that provided sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
In 2020, Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq on Trump’s orders, sparking a wave of fury in Iran.
Last year, Trump warned that the United States would “erase [Iran] off the face of the Earth” if a recent alleged Iranian plot to kill him had succeeded.
Iran’s president on Tuesday reiterated his country’s categorical denial of being part of the alleged plot. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made the remarks in his first interview with a US media outlet since Trump survived an assassination attempt last July, and also after the US Department of Justice in November charged a Iranian man in connection with a plot to kill Trump the previous month.
