On January 17 2025, three days before President-elect Trump’s inauguration, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the reformist President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian signed a 47-point comprehensive strategic partnership for 20 years. The negotiations were on the table for the last few years but the timing of the agreement is symbolic. However, the agreement did not formalize the way analysts and foreign policy pundits expected. Since the Russia-Ukraine war, the cooperation between these two nations has intensified, and the agreement looks like an official stamp to that cooperation. The article aims to comprehend and analyze the signed agreement and its geopolitical implications for Moscow and Tehran. It is also crucial to look into the preconditions of domestic, regional and global situations that have been created since the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century. The article may fail to deliver justice to the reader without looking critically at the agreement.
This is not the first time that Russia and Iran have signed a cooperation treaty. In 2001, Iran, under President Mohammad Khatami, signed a 20-year strategic agreement, which was periodically renewed and serves as the foundation for cooperation in energy defence and military sectors. One of the notable outcomes of the cooperation is the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant by Russia’s Atomstroyexport (Russian Federation’s nuclear power equipment and service exporter) under a contract signed in 1995, which was revised in 2006 under US pressure. The plant’s first unit was commissioned in 2011. The convergence of interest between the two nations arose from the geopolitical situation created by regional conflict – the Russia-Ukraine war and Iran’s rivalry with Israel. Both nations also cooperated in Syria in 2015 to save the falling Assad Regime. In 2016, Russia provided the S-300 missile defence system to Iran. When the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, Iran supplied with its advanced, light and cheap drones, especially Shaheed 139, which provided Russians with the upper hand on the battlefield.
Drivers of the Agreement
The comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between Russia and Iran has not been signed without certain drivers. The agreement is a result of different combinations of domestic, regional, and global factors.
Domestically, both nations faced crucial challenges that pushed them toward closer cooperation. For Russia, NATO expansion posed an apparent national security threat to Russia on its western border. Simultaneously, the US unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian Nuclear Deal, and stringent sanctions under “maximum pressure” under the Trump presidency pushed Iranians to recalibrate their foreign policy. Both countries also faced severe economic challenges, with Russia grappling with frozen assets and the loss of its European energy markets, while Iran contended with long-standing sanctions that restricted its financial and trade opportunities.
Regionally, Iranian isolation by the economic sanctions and the recent direct conflict with Israel, a special ally of the US in West Asia and the dissemination of its proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Shia militia in Iraq during the Israel-Hamas war created a sense of fear in Tehran and heightened its need for strategic allies. Similarly, Russia’s deteriorated relations with Europe, especially after its energy dominance waned, which pushed the search for regional partners. Economic sanctions imposed on both nations also underscored regional cooperation’s importance in mitigating vulnerabilities and protecting their respective interests in Central Asia, the Caspian Sea region, the South Caucasus, the Levant, and West Asia.
Globally, the West, especially the US under the Biden Administration, tried hard to push Russians to a corner. The Western support to Ukraine allowed Ukrainians to deter Russian forces on the ground for a longer period, which eventually decreased the Russian presence worldwide. The partnership reflects a shared ambition to counter Western hegemony and promote a multipolar world order. Both Russia and Iran have faced sustained efforts by the West to isolate them diplomatically and economically. Iran also pushed hard to look for allies worldwide for their economic, diplomatic and military necessity. In response, the two nations have sought to align themselves with other countries, such as China and North Korea, to build alternative economic and political networks. This collaboration is evident in initiatives like the BRICS expansion, which aims to establish a global platform that challenges the US-led international order. Together, Russia and Iran are positioning themselves as pivotal players in reshaping the geopolitical landscape.
This domestic, regional and global condition pushed Russia and Iran to finalize the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty officially just before Trump’s inauguration and give a symbolic welcome to Trump just before entering the White House.
What exactly lies in the agreement?
Economic Cooperation
Economic collaboration is one of the basic pillars of the Iran-Russia partnership, as highlighted in Article 17 and Article 20. Both nations are committed to enhancing trade and investment, including joint ventures and infrastructure financing. According to Article 20, the two sides seek to reduce reliance on third-country systems by developing a modern payment mechanism for transactions in national currencies. It also calls for direct interbank cooperation and the promotion of domestic financial products.
The treaty also promotes cooperation in special economic zones and industrial areas, aiming to boost mutual trade. In energy, as per Article 22, the agreement promotes robust cooperation between Russian and Iranian energy companies. Both countries will promote investments in joint projects to develop oil and gas fields in order to enhance both nations’ energy capabilities. The treaty especially mentions long-term projects that involve peaceful nuclear energy cooperation. These include collaborations on nuclear power station construction to step towards energy independence. Putin and Pezeshkian considered the construction of a direct pipeline between Russia and Iran, which could supply 55 billion cubic meters of gas to Iran annually. The pipeline project is part of a memorandum signed by Russian gas major Gazprom and the National Iranian Gas Company in June of last year.
Diplomatic Cooperation
Diplomatically, the treaty underscores a shared commitment to shaping a multipolar world order, rejecting unipolarity and external interference (Articles 1 and 2). Both parties pledge mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, aligning their foreign policies against unilateral coercive measures, as outlined in Article 19. Article 9 further strengthens their alliance within international organizations like the United Nations, ensuring coordinated efforts on global and regional issues. This cooperation is designed to amplify their collective voice on the world stage, challenging Western dominance in geopolitics. On the stability and territorial integrity front, they agreed that neither side would allow its territory to be used to support separatist movements or actions threatening the other’s stability and territorial integrity. For that, their intelligence and security services will share information and experience and work more closely together.
Military and Security Cooperation
On the security front, detailed in Articles 5 and 6, both countries agreed to work together against common military threats, participate in joint exercises, maritime security initiatives, and counter-terrorism measures and develop their “military-technical cooperation”. It also mentions that if one is attacked, the other should not assist the aggressor country and try to resolve the differences according to the U.N. Charter and international law.
There is no specific mention of arms transfers, which have been a contentious issue for Western nations. Though the two sides said they would develop “military-technical cooperation”. This means Russia will help Iran develop conventional weapons by providing military technologies.
Apart from military, security, economic, and diplomatic cooperation, the agreement also talks about and extends its domain to numerous other fields, such as fostering cultural, scientific, educational, and technological exchanges.
What can we conclude?
Overall, the agreement is a wholesome package for both nations to understand the current geopolitical scenario where Iran needs some trusted and capable partner, and Russia needs a partner who can support Russia in the war. Signing the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty by determining a framework for sustainable synergy can contribute to the interests of Iran and Russia as two like-minded countries that both play a major role in Central Asia, the Caspian Sea region, the South Caucasus, the Levant, and West Asia. The agreement is determined to institutionalize long-term relations that existed previously in order to increase the predictability of relations, reduce ambivalence and decrease the impact of external variables.
The main goal is to use the largely unused capacities in relations on the one hand and to try to define ordering mechanisms in the region on the other to provide for stability, shared interests, and more sustainable relations. Assessing the cooperation through the lens of opposition to the US will limit the scope of the agreement and may lead scholars to the wrong conclusion. The relationship between Iran and Russia has reached new heights not because of the agreement but due to their mutual interests. Though cooperation between the two countries is deepening, but not rapidly. The goal of the 2025 new treaty was to formalize gains in recent years and let the rest of the world—and the Russian and Iranian elites—know that Moscow and Tehran have teamed up for the long term. This is convincing not because of what is written on documents but because neither country has much choice regarding international partners.
