Iranian and Russian leaders have praised the agreement, which covers areas such as politics, security, trade, transportation and energy.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signed a cooperation agreement, deepening the partnership between the two countries facing the world’s toughest sanctions.
Iranian and Russian officials said the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty covers areas ranging from trade and military cooperation to science, culture and education.
At a joint press conference with President Pezeshkian in Moscow on Friday, President Putin called the agreement “a real breakthrough that will create conditions for the stable and sustainable development of Russia, Iran and the entire region.” He praised it as an event.
The Kremlin earlier said the treaty would strengthen “military-political and trade-economic” ties between Tehran and Moscow, without providing details.
Pezeshkian said the two countries are entering a new chapter in relations, especially in trade.
The two leaders said that the two countries will strengthen cooperation in a wide range of areas including politics, security, trade, transportation and energy.
Both countries have stepped up trade activities in response to Western sanctions. Ukrainian and Western officials say Iran has already provided Russia with Shahed suicide drones, which Moscow used in nighttime attacks on Ukraine.
Moscow has considered Iran an important strategic partner since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but the move has alarmed Western officials who see both countries as destabilizing forces in the world. There is.
Negotiating a new treaty took years. The current framework between the two countries is based on a 2001 agreement that is regularly updated.
“This treaty is constructive in nature and aims to strengthen the capabilities of Russia, Iran and our friends around the world,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.
The treaty is expected to remain in force for 20 years, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali.
Building closer ties with Iran, China and North Korea is central to Putin’s foreign policy as he seeks to challenge what he calls US-led “global hegemony.”
Pezeshkian’s visit to Russia comes after Tehran faced several foreign policy setbacks last year.
These include the Syrian opposition offensive that toppled President Bashar al-Assad, a key ally of Russia and Iran, and the weakening of the Iranian-aligned Lebanese militant group Hezbollah after the war with Israel. etc. are included.
The treaty was signed days before President Trump returned to office. The U.S. president-elect, who has long advocated an intransigent stance toward Iran, is threatening to take swift military action to end the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.
During his first term, Trump withdrew from a multilateral agreement that promised sanctions relief against Iran in exchange for nuclear restrictions.
In 2020, President Trump ordered a U.S. drone strike in Iraq to assassinate Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, sparking outrage in Iran.
President Trump last year warned that the United States would “wipe (Iran) off the face of the earth” if Iran’s plot to kill him was successful.
