I wrote in January: “Russia and Iran have signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement, ‘pledging to promote a new fair and sustainable multipolar world order.’ The two countries have been staunch allies in Russia’s war with Ukraine, with Iran supplying Russia with drones. Now Iran needs favors from Russia in the form of military intelligence, defense and weaponry, as the Islamic regime now finds itself considerably weakened. Both countries have been diminished by war: Iran via its war against Israel, waged through its key proxy, Hizballah, as well as its client Hamas. In addition, Iran has lost another client and strong ally, Syria, with the fall of the Assad regime. Russia, meanwhile, has been in a drawn-out war of attrition with Ukraine.”
Max Bergmann from the Center for Strategic & International Studies stated last year:
Russia now really formulates its approach to the region through the prism of confrontation with the West over Ukraine. I would actually argue it’s a confrontation over global order. So, it’s not just about the territorial configuration of Ukraine, but that now dictates Russia’s approach to the Middle East……
The one broad dynamic is just more confrontation. The logic of confrontation with the West is really dictating Russia’s approach to the region….
In February 2024, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, told the General Assembly that Russia was “deepening its ties with global forces of destabilization, chiefly Iran.” Erdan’s comments “came ahead of the parley” that Moscow was about to hold with Palestinian factions, including Hamas. As it turns out, Russia then slammed Israel “for provoking Iran.”
A dangerous pattern has been building as Western interests are being aggressively undermined, as well as that of Israel. Iran did not waste any time as its agreement with Putin was ratified. Iran’s Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is now headed to Beijing “to discuss the latest talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump on the country’s nuclear programme.”
It’s obvious that Iran is shoring up support in “readiness” to face the Trump administration’s tough policy on Iran, not to mention Israel’s. Last month, Netanyahu thanked Trump for giving Israel “the tools we need to finish the job against Iran’s terror axis” and days ago, Netanyahu vowed that “Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.”
“Putin ratifies agreement on strategic partnership with Iran,” TASS News Agency, April 21, 2025:
MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law on ratification of the agreement on the comprehensive strategic partnership with Iran.
The document was posted on the official web portal of legal information.
The agreement sets out the legal framework for further development of cooperation between Moscow and Tehran for the long-term perspective. It enshrines the status of Russia and Iran as strategic partners and covers all the spheres, including defense, combating terrorism, energy, finance, transport, industry, agriculture, science, culture and technologies.…
Hugh Fittzgerald says
Doesn’t Putin realize how the Muslims inside Russia are multiplying? Look at the hundreds of thousands of them who now live in Moscow alone. Russia is not immune to demographic conquest from within. And what about Lavrov, the Armenian (despite his Russified name)? What are his thoughts on Turks and on Islam?
Iran is no friend to Infidels, not even to those with Russian passports.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Actually, and ironically, Iran tends to support Armenia over Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that not only are Azeris muslim: they’re Twelver shi’as, just like Iranians. In fact, the Safavids – the dynasty that undertook a wholesale conversion of Iran from sunni to Twelver shi’a – were an Azeri dynasty, and today’s Azerbaijan was a part of the territory that the Safavids started from in the 16th century when they took over Iran
All that notwithstanding, Baku now has a territorial dispute w/ Iran: they claim the Iranian province of the same name, which includes Tabriz, Ardabil, et al. During Soviet rule, religion was de-emphasized but ethnicity was emphasized, so that in 1992, the initial tendencies of the -stans were to lean towards their ethnic comrades. Two of them – Azerbaijan & Tajikistan – were interesting. Azerbaijan is shi’a but Turkic, while Tajikistan is sunni but Iranic. So initially, Tajikistan drifted towards Iran (they later had a falling out over various issues) while Azerbaijan drifted towards Turkey, and is now one of the members of the Organization of Turkic States
So getting back to this, Teheran has a rivalry w/ Baku, and as a result, has tended to support Yerevan. Other than that, the only support they gave Armenia was helping them renovate some old historical mosque somewhere in that country
Another thing – despite being ardently pro-Russia, Armenia has gotten a raw deal, as you would know from the writings of our Armenian contributor here. On the Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh dispute, the Kremlin recognizes it as a part of Azerbaijan, not Armenia, and they didn’t even move to help Armenia prevent Azerbaijan and Turkey occupying Armenian territory to create a land bridge b/w those 2 countries
Sadly, it turns out, Armenia has no friends. Except maybe Cyprus
gravenimage says
Putin may know this–but his respons to it has been to pander to Islam. He has built Muslms th largest Mosqu in Europe, and appared at its opning wite Erdogan and Abbas. He has allowed Chechnya to become a Shari’ah state on Russian soil, and has lauded Islam for being a bulwark against the Wst.
A nuclear Iran would not just be a threat to hated Israel, but Russia as well.
Walter Sieruk says
This photograph of the official of the Vladimir Putin government of Russia and official of that Islamic Regime of Iran standing and joining hands together in a schemed strategic partnership of international action is something that must be terribe.
Furthermore,, that above photo is a clear reminder that the Bible informs its reader “Though hand join in hand , the wicked shall not be unpunished.” Proverbs 11:21. [K.J.V.]
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Would that be anything like their strategic partnership w/ Assad in Syria? We saw how that collapsed last December, when Russia took in Assad & his clan
Also, what exactly does this strategic partnership mean? If Iran is attacked, presumably by Israel, what can Russia do? They’re locked in a war w/ Ukraine which they won’t end, despite getting very generous offers from the US: it was the very reason that they failed to prevent Assad from being toppled the way they did in 2015. If Iran is attacked, what can Russia militarily do to save them? If they want the Iranian drones, they had problems w/ them last time, and refused to pay Iran for those
I once saw a video that analyzed the alliances b/w Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. It pointed out that the economic alliance b/w Russia and Iran made no sense. The 2 countries have about the same top 10 imports and top 10 exports. Usually, an alliance b/w 2 countries A & B are strongest if the top exports of country A are the top imports of country B, and vice versa. But that’s not the situation b/w Iran and Russia
I understand that Russia was desperate when Ukraine showed signs of joining NATO, and NATO, w/ Kamala Harris, showed signs of being willing to accept. But starting this war turned out to be the worst geopolitical move that they could make: it’s shown them to be more of a paper tiger, incapable of covering multiple fronts. They lost Syria b’cos everything was focused in Ukraine, but they could lose even more. If Beijing hypothetically (and it does have territorial claims on Vladivostok and Khabarovsk regions) send troops in to occupy the Primorsky & Kamchatka coasts, the Kremlin would be at a loss of what to do. For all that talk about being an ex KGB agent, Putin has displayed monumental geopolitical stupidity in first starting, and then persisting w/ this war
So I’m not remotely bothered by this “strategic partnership” b/w Iran and Russia. Iran is even stupider if it ignores the lessons of Syria and believes that Moscow would salvage them if it came to a conflict w/ Israel
gravenimage says
I think Iran ultimately wants nukes.
MJ Raichyk, PhD says
One factor raised was the size of the Muslim population in Russia… with the assertion that they are a threat to the Russians –mostly Christian…. Has anyone seen much conversion activity of Muslims becoming Christian?
There was a clip on Rumble, that appears to have been recorded at the Sep 2024 conference on Thomas Acquinas in Indiana… in which the claim was that Muslims are having visions and converting to Christianity by the hundreds…..
Is that going on anywhere else? Russia? Europe?
Here’s the video… https://rumble.com/v6sde21-muslims-are-converting-to-christianity-en-masse.html
No mention of imams ordering massive jihads over apostates or whatever.. No blood in the streets
ttyl
࿗Infidel࿘ says
islam in not just Russia, but in the larger Soviet Union, is pretty bawlderized. There was a reformist movement in the Russian empire known as Jadid, where they argued that muslims in Romanovsk Russia had entered a period of moral and societal decay. What was unique about them was that their solution to that wasn’t more islam, but rather adapting a new kind of reform. In fact, this Jadid movement was the closest thing to what the Reformation was in Christianity, but as the article notes, it was something that occurred only in the Russian empire, including Russian-conquered Turkistan
That is why although Russia has muslim minorities – Tatars, Bashkirs, Chechens, Dagestanis, et al, they typically (except the Chechens) don’t pose a threat to non-muslim Russians. Also, the only muslim migrants Russia takes in are from the ex-Soviet -stans like Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and not countries like Pakistan or Bangladesh
OLD GUY says
Russia and Europe and America all fighting for power and position on the world stage. We all cut deals with the enemy Islam for economic and power over each other. Islam is the true enemy of all of us.
gravenimage says
Russia ratifies agreement on strategic partnership with Iran
………………………………………..
So Iran is rewarded for murdering Infidels by getting the chance to murder more Infidels…