Strategic Cooperation between Iran and Russia; Opportunities and Challenges

Subject Areas : Middle East Political Review

Mehdi Amiri ¹ (Assistant Professor, The Political Studies Branch, The Islamic Parliament Research Center, Tehran, Iran.)

Received: 2023-09-25 Accepted : 2023-09-25 Published : 2023-09-01

Keywords: Iran, Russia, Strategic Agreement, Strategic Cooperation. ,

Abstract :

The relations between Iran and Russia in recent years has turned the concludinga strategic and long-term agreement into a dominant debate among experts. Thisattempt can be considered as an important step into strengthening strategicrelations Iran-Russia, which is based on the mutual interests of the parties andextending their interaction in a long-term period. Despite the diversity andmultiplicity of issues contained in this agreement, relations between the twocountries during the past twenty years have proved that this agreement inpractice and especially in terms of economic goals has not been able to affect thetotality of the relations between the two countries and it is a solid basis forChange in the relations between the two countries. Basically, the relationsbetween the two countries during these years has been less based on the attentionand reliance on this agreement, and the strategic transformation that has takenplace in the cooperation of the two countries in the field of regional issues suchas the Syrian crisis is the product of the understanding of the military andpolitical elites of the two countries on the time requirements and developmentsand therefore, strategic cooperation between them in the region was inevitable.For this reason, the agreement cannot be considered as a substitute for thecomprehensive strategic cooperation document. The document of strategiccooperation Iran-Russia should be a starting point and a great departure for new,all-round and multifaceted relations with Russia and become the basis for turningMoscow into a long-term strategic partner of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Inorder to achieve such a document, it is very important to accurately assess thepotential and actual capacities and resources that advance the relations betweenthe two countries and to identify the opportunities and obstacles for it. In thepresent article, while trying to explain the conceptualization of the nature ofstrategic relations, the most important factors promoting this type of relationsbetween Iran and Russia are pointed out, and in addition to explaining some ofthe challenges and limitations of this process, also the requirements of it will beexplained.

References:

 References

• Bebler, Anton (2015), Crimea and the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict, Romanian Journal of European Affairs, 15(1), March.


• Czechowska, Lucyna (2013), The concept of strategic partnership as an input in the modern alliance theory, The Copernicus Journal of Political Studies, No. 2 (4).


• Fars news agency (1400), Ryabkov: We continue to cooperate with Iran to build the second and third units of Bushehr power plant, April 24.


• Freedman, Rrobert (2000), Russian–Iranian Relations in the 1990s, Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 4 No. 2/June 2000.


• Gabuev, Alexander. Chernenko, Elena (2019), What Russia Thinks About Multilateralism, Carnegie Moscow Center, Available at: https://carnegie.ru., August 20.


• Grove, Thomas (2019), U.S., Israel Look to Coax Russia Away from Iran Alliance, The Wall Street Journal, June 24.


• karami, Jahangir (2017), Iran-Russia Strategic Partnership at the New Stage: What Could We Propose To Each Other? The Institute for Iran-Eurasia Studies (IRAS). 2017.


• Kortunov, Andrey (2018), Russia and Iran; Tactical Union or Strategic Partnership? Available at: https://b2n.ir/d47653.


• Kozhanov a, Nikolay (2020), Iran and Russia: Between Pragmatism and Possibilities of a Strategic Alliance, IN: Kozhanov, Luciano, Foreign Policy of Iran Under President Hassan Rouhani's First Term (2013–2017), Palgrave Macmillan.


• Kozhanov b, Nikolay (2020), Russia: Iran’s Ambivalent Partner, In: Zamirirad, Azadeh, Forced to Go East? Iran’s Foreign Policy Outlook and the Role of Russia, China and India, German Institute for International and Secutity Affairs, Available at: swp-berlin.org, April.


• Lukyanov, Grigory (2018), Russia–Iran Cooperation in Afghanistan: Opportunities and Limitations, the Institute for Iran-Eurasia Studies (IRAS). 2018.


• Mirfakhraei, Hasan (2017), Syrian Crisis and Russian-Iranian Strategic Partnership, Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 2.


• Rodkiewicz, Witold (2020), Defying America. Russia’s policy towards Iran, The Centre for Eastern Studies, https://www.osw.waw.pl/pl, OSW Commentary, No 319.


• Stronski, Paul. Sokolsky, Richard (2020), Multipolarity in Practice: Understanding Russia’s Engagement with Regional Institutions, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Available at: carnegieendowment.org.


• Tanchum, Michael. (2020), Iran and the China–Russia pivot in Eurasia,


• Yilmaz, Serdar (2017), Eurasian Economic Union: A Regional Economic Hegemony Initiative, Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research (JEECAR), 4(2).