Alwaght- While only a few days are left before Donald Trump is inaugurated as the president of the US, Tehran and Moscow have displayed their resolve to shore up their bilateral ties and coordinate their international and regional policies.
One of the showcases of this growing unity of the two allies is the recurrent trade of visits of senior political officials of the two countries. Meanwhile, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Moscow heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation and met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials.
Habibollah Abbasi, the Director General of Public Relations at the Presidency, said about the goals of Pezkesian's trip to Russia: "Dr. Pezkesian will not only meet separately with the country's president and prime minister, but will also meet with Russian businessmen and industrialists and talk to them." Abbasi described the signing of a comprehensive long-term cooperation agreement between Iran and Russia as the most important program and achievement of the trip.
Habibullah Abbas, the chief of public affairs of the Iranian presidential office, commented on the agenda of the trip, saying: "During his trip to Russia, Dr. Pezhakian will not only meet separately with the country's president and prime minister, but also will also meet with Russian businessmen and industrialists and talk to them." Abbasi described the signing of a comprehensive long-term cooperation pact between Iran and Russia as the most important program and achievement of this trip.
The Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, for her part, described the pact "strategic", adding: "In addition to signing this agreement, the presidents of the two countries will review the prospects for further expanding bilateral cooperation, including in trade and investment, transport and logistics, and the humanitarian field, as well as topical issues on the regional and international agenda." Given the importance of this issue, Pezeshkian's visit is being referred to as a historic one.
Strategic agreement, a new chapter in the history of Iranian-Russian relations
By signing this 25-year treaty, which includes a preamble and 47 articles in all areas of bilateral relations, the level of interactions between Iran and Russia will be enhanced and the ground for advancing cooperation will be facilitated, and it will be effective in terms of regional authority and cooperation with a focus on the economic, political, security and military fields.
This strategic pact shows multilateral policy approach in various Iranian governments, suggesting that they have not stuck in unilateralism and are rationally considering regional capacities.
One of the features of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which is based on more than 30 sectors, is that as a long-term contractual agreement based on the principles of the UN Charter, it includes mutual rights and a balance of obligations and respect for territorial integrity. The political, economic, transportation and transit corridor, monetary and banking, investment, scientific, oil and gas, environmental, agricultural and food security sectors are part of this treaty.
Having in mind that the two countries have rich energy resources, partnership of the two countries in international trade and energy is predicted under the pact. They together hold 65 percent of the world’s gas reserves, something enabling them to use this advantage to counter the hostile policies of the West.
While details of the security part of the agreement have not yet been revealed, Moscow officials suggested last month that the agreement will also cover defense and security cooperation. It seems that Russia wants to include defense dimensions in the agreement with Iran, after signing a strategic agreement with North Korea that emphasized primarily on security.
Neutralizing sanctions and increasing trade with implementation of the agreement
Although one cannot expect much about benefits of this agreement in the short and medium term, in the long term, with the increase in cooperation between the two countries, substantial benefits are an expectation.
By enhancing their relations to a strategic level, Iran and Russia can meet each other's needs and neutralize some of the Western sanctions. In the past two years, steps have been taken to do business using national currencies, and by eliminating the dollar from bilateral trade, the impacts of Western sanctions will be mitigated.
Russia and Iran have developed closer relations in recent years as part of a joint effort to create a bulwark against Western efforts to isolate them. This agreement will allow the two countries to effectively provide each other with political support, defense assistance, and economic interests.
Russia has made triumphs in some advanced technologies that have made it a leading power in the military and aerospace industries. On the other hand, Iran has made great strides in areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, and medicine and they can benefit each other with these capabilities. Therefore, Tehran and Moscow can increase their economic resilience to sanctions by diversifying their economies and reducing their dependence on the West.
Iran and Russia have many commonalities that bring their interests closer together. Both countries have oil-rich, developing economies and are wary of the West, which has targeted them with a series of sanctions in its foreign policy.
By working closely with Russia, Iran not only strengthens its position on the world stage, but also increases its diplomatic leverage, allowing it to act more flexibly in complex regional equations and balance its interests.
The two sides also share a common worldview that seeks to create an alternative set of international institutions to protect the interests of countries outside the Western orbit and to balance the organizations established by the US after World War II. The establishment of the BRICS group, which accepted several members in the past two years, is part of the Eastern campaign to counter the financial institutions built by the West, and Tehran and Moscow will play a pivotal role in this joint market.
Russia can also contribute significantly to the development of Iran’s nuclear program within the framework of the strategic agreement, and an investment agreement in the energy sector was signed two years ago during Putin’s visit to Tehran. On the other hand, in both countries, the service, industrial, and agricultural sectors account for the largest share of national output, and oil revenues constitute a major part of the government budget. For economic growth, both countries rely on energy, where exports, government revenues, employment, and investment are based on oil and gas revenues.
In the geopolitical context, Iran and Russia have common interests in important issues such as regional stability, the fight against terrorism, and energy cooperation. Russia’s role alongside Iran in the Syrian crisis and its support for Iran’s membership in regional structures such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization reflect the strategic alignment between the two countries.
Signig the strategic pact ahead of Trump's inauguration
This pact is coming at a time Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated next week as the new president of the US. Given the formation of Trump's cabinet which includes mostly anti-Iranian figures and also given the escalation of tensions in West Asia and Ukraine, boost of Tehran-Moscow ties can help check the Trump's pressure leverage against Iran and Russia.
US officials have always expressed their concern about the cooperation of Tehran, Moscow and China, and the Trump administration is no exception to this rule, and according to some analysts, it will also try to block the path of strategic cooperation between Iran and Russia as much as possible. In this regard, Donald Jensen, director of the Russia and Europe program at the US Institute for Modern Peace, told Al-Hurra news network that the West will respond to the strategic partnership pact between Russia and Iran. Jensen emphasized: “The US will review the situation and we will not welcome this expected partnership.”
Since the 10-year period of anti-Iranian sanctions will end October this year and the Europeans have threatened to use the snapback mechanism to restore all the UN sanctions on Iran, strengthening ties with Moscow can put a strong barrier ahead of the Western ambitions and excesses.
In a world drifting to a multipolar system, strategic Iranian-Russian alliance is a smart response to the transforming global outlook, allowing Iran to diversify its foreign relations and bolster its sovereignty on the world stage.
