Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Moscow on Friday for high-level talks with Vladimir V. Putin, his Russian counterpart, strengthening the alliance between two countries driven by a mutual desire to challenge the West.
Iran and Russia are under Western sanctions, and trade and finance are at the forefront of the cooperation agreement that both leaders are expected to sign.
The agreement is expected to cover military issues, but unlike agreements Moscow has signed with other allies, the deal with Iran stops short of including a defense clause, according to Iran’s ambassador to Moscow.
“The independence and security of our country, as well as independence, is very important,” Kazem Jalali, told IRNA, the Iranian news agency, according to TASS. “We are not interested in joining any bloc.”
Before the arrival of Mr. Pezeshkian, Dmitri S. Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said the signing of the agreement would be a “very important event” for Russia, and Iranian leaders characterized the president’s trip as more than just a state visit, they said. it represents a turning point.
“This agreement is not only an important development that strengthens our bilateral relations,” wrote Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, on the Telegram social network. He added, “This is not just a political agreement, but a map of the future.”
Mr. Peskov said the timing of the signing of the agreement was not intended to divert attention from Monday’s inauguration of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States, and Mr. Araghchi told state television in Iran that it is time to sign the agreement. Friday was planned months ago.
Since the invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, Moscow and Tehran have been increasingly close to each other. Iran has sent short-range missiles and drones to Russia, according to US and European officials, to help the Kremlin’s war effort. Iran denies supplying weapons to Moscow.
The Kremlin has provided some diplomatic support to Tehran, but has had to balance that relationship with maintaining ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which are hostile to Iran. Both Moscow and Tehran have recently faced a major crisis in the region with the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.
Since the beginning of the war, Russia has been working to counter what it sees as an aggressive and authoritarian Western power, led by the United States, through a coalition of countries by creating and formalizing a series of agreements.
In June, Russia signed a cooperation agreement with North Korea, and in December, a security agreement with Belarus legalized the deployment of Russian strategic nuclear weapons to that country. Both agreements included a safeguard clause.
Russia also leads what is known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which includes Belarus and several other former Soviet states including Armenia in the Caucasus, and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia. A counterweight to NATO, the alliance is based on the principle that an attack on one member should be considered an attack on all. The alliance was challenged recently when Armenia successfully suspended its membership.
For its part, Iran faces many challenges at home and in the region, with its allies weakened and its economy stagnant due to sanctions. The return of Mr. Trump as US president will bring more pressure and Washington’s efforts to isolate Iran.
Aside from security issues, Russia has been working with Iran and other countries to develop an alternative to the Western-led Swift, a global messaging service that connects more than 11,000 financial institutions and allows them to alert each other about pending transactions.
Moscow hopes to build a railway through Iran that will connect Russia directly to the ports of the Persian Gulf. Mr. Araghchi said the deal will allow Iran to serve as the main channel for Russian gas exports to the world through its pipeline network, bringing gas from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf coast. It means that Iran is “becoming a major hub for gas exports.”
Mr. Jalali, the Russian ambassador, told Iranian media that the leaders of Russia and Iran see that the old agreement between the two countries is outdated and does not reflect the realities of the world and regional order.
The new agreement, he said, “considers all aspects of our bilateral relations including our political stance.” How do we find strength and how do we move forward together. “
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