Analyst told MNA
TEHRAN, (MNA) – Iran and Russia Agreement means that Russia is ready to help Iran despite the "maximum pressure" policy that Trump favors against the Islamic Republic of Iran, an Orientalist researcher says.
In 2025, Iran and Russia signed a landmark Strategic Comprehensive Agreement, a pact that underscores their deepening cooperation across economic, political, and security sectors. With 47 articles, this agreement is designed to fortify their partnership amid mounting Western sanctions, bolster regional stability, and expand strategic projects such as the North-South Transport Corridor. It also signals a geopolitical shift, particularly as the world reacts to Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency and the resurgence of his "maximum pressure" policy on Iran.
To explore the implications of this agreement for Iran-Russia ties, global power dynamics, and West Asian stability, Mehr New Agency contacted Lana Rawandi-Fadai, the Senior Researcher and Head of the Oriental Cultural Center at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences.
We discuss whether this agreement can shield both nations from sanctions, how it might reshape Iran's stance toward the West, and what message it sends at a time of heightened global tensions.
1. What are the most important aspects of the 2025 Iran-Russia Agreement?
The Russian-Iranian Agreement of 2025 contains 47 articles devoted to cooperation on protecting each country's territorial integrity, the fight against terrorism and extremism, economics, and regional security. These are the main issues. The Agreement provides the legal basis for initiating and realizing numerous projects in all areas of trade and economic cooperation. One of the most important aims is to increase the efficiency of the North-South international transport corridor. The two countries also agree to work together on arms control, disarmament, and international security, as well as to promote media cooperation to counter disinformation and propaganda. President Vladimir Putin called the talks with Pezeshkian "substantial and practical," and also drew attention to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement. As he noted, it sets ambitious goals and outlines guidelines for deepening long-term cooperation in politics, security, trade, investment, and humanitarian areas. This is a breakthrough document that lays down the necessary conditions for the stable and sustainable development of Iran and Russia, as well as of our entire shared Eurasian region.
2. Will it help to ease the impact of sanctions on Iran and Russia?
The agreement was signed, in many ways, for this very reason: to combat the harsh Western sanctions that have been imposed on both countries. It contains clauses on economic and energy cooperation to help mitigate the effects of sanctions on the Russian and Iranian economies. According to the Iranian ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, the countries are preparing to launch a secure communications network for financial transactions to bypass SWIFT. "I can call 2025 the year of solving financial problems in Russian-Iranian relations," the head of the diplomatic mission emphasized. The Russian Federation and Iran have almost completely switched to the use of national currencies in the settling of accounts, are striving to build stable channels of credit and banking interaction, and are also working on linking national payment systems. In 2024, the share of transactions in Russian rubles and Iranian rials exceeded 95 percent of all bilateral trade transactions. In addition, according to the agreement, the Russian Federation and Iran will assist each other in the event of natural and man-made disasters and will refrain from joining any sanctions imposed against either party by a third party.
3. Could the agreement be interpreted as an important signal from Russia and Iran to the West, especially just as Trump has taken office? If yes, then in which fields most of all (Politics, Economics, Defense)?
Yes, the agreement means that Russia is ready to help Iran despite the "maximum pressure" policy that Trump favors against the Islamic Republic – not only in the economic sphere but also in the military-technical sphere (although there is no military alliance between the countries, as there is between Russia and China). As Pezeshkian stated on television, the signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement was a signal to the outside world. "Moscow and Tehran do not agree that someone from the outside should determine the role of our countries," the chief executive stressed. "We can pursue an independent policy and together we are ready to develop security and economic welfare in the region, and maintain peace and stability in our region. We don't need the West." As Pezeshkian emphasized, the treaty demonstrates that both countries "profess exactly this approach."
4. How have Trump's words and the futile 2014 negotiations affected the agreement and Iran's current stance?
In Iran, given Trump's statements about support for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, it's just not considered worthwhile to hold new negotiations with his administration. This is why the agreement underscores Iran's Eastward orientation and its desire to seek cooperation with powerful players beyond the West (Russia and China) to blunt Western pressure. Negotiations were possible with the outgoing Biden administration—they took place in 2021-2022—and could resume again with the United States if conditions allowed. In response to Trump's bellicose statements, President Pezeshkian has said that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful because the mass murder of innocent people will never be acceptable to the Iranian military doctrine and that it cannot be stopped by airstrikes.
5. In conclusion, describe the agreement's possible effect on relations between Iran, Russia, and West Asia.
By a separate clause of the Agreement (Article 12) Moscow and Tehran noted that they would contribute to "consolidating peace and security in the Caspian region, Central Asia, Transcaucasia, and West Asia" and cooperate to prevent "interference in these regions and the destabilizing presence of third states there." This means that Russia and Iran will develop joint measures to prevent the expansion of harmful Western influence in the regions vital to them, and intend to cooperate to solve common problems in West Asia. As is well known, Russia and Iran have a particularly negative attitude towards the expansion of NATO, which they consider a structure that has become aggressive and imperialistic. As for the Caspian Sea's security issues, Russia is hopeful that Iran will ratify the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed by all the Caspian Five countries in 2018, as soon as possible. Also in July 2024, the Russian Federation and Iran conducted joint exercises in the Caspian Sea on rescue and security operations—on Iran's initiative. The participants of the exercise practiced firefighting skills, and rescue operations—including transporting victims by helicopter, as well as eliminating air and sea targets. Another consequence for relations with West Asia may be that the Agreement cools Israel's ardor and prevents it, in particular, from using the territory of Syria against Russian and Iranian interests.
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