Pezeshkian Arrives in Moscow to Sign Long-Term Cooperation Agreement with Russia

Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of the fourteenth government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, arrived in Moscow on Friday, January 28, after a trip to Tajikistan, to sign a 'long-term cooperation agreement' between the two countries during a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, according to Iranian state media. Reports indicate that this contract has various dimensions, including military, political, and economic aspects. Earlier, the Kremlin announced that Masoud Pezeshkian would visit Moscow on Friday to meet with Vladimir Putin. Discussions regarding the situation in Syria, developments in the Middle East, and the Islamic Republic's nuclear program were mentioned as topics for this meeting. This visit comes at a time when social media users have recently criticized the Islamic Republic of Iran's dependency on Russia. For instance, Siavash Rezaiyan wrote on the social media platform 'X': 'One of the most important news items these days for Iranians is the twenty-year contract with Russia. I think the provisions of this contract are akin to the official colonization of Iran by Russia...' Meanwhile, Kazem Jalali, the Iranian ambassador to Moscow, announced the signing of the 'long-term strategic cooperation agreement' between Tehran and Moscow during Pezeshkian's visit to Russia, stating to the TASS news agency that this agreement would not include a 'mutual defense' clause, similar to agreements Russia has with North Korea and Belarus. He emphasized that the nature of this agreement is different, stating: 'Countries like Belarus and North Korea have established cooperative relations with Russia in areas that we have not entered because we are not interested in joining any bloc.' This is occurring while the Islamic Republic of Iran has delivered thousands of drones to Moscow following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which have been used in attacks on various regions of Ukraine. Ukraine had previously stated that since the beginning of the war, Russia has utilized over 8,000 drones manufactured by the Islamic Republic of Iran in its operations. For the first time in the fall of two years ago, Kyiv accused the Iranian government of supplying these drones to Russia. The Times reported on January 24 that Ali Larijani, an advisor to Ali Khamenei and a member of the Expediency Discernment Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been making secret flights to meet with senior Russian officials. This report indicated that these behind-the-scenes efforts aim to garner Russian support for Iran's nuclear program and strengthen its air defense capabilities. Pezeshkian is going to meet with Putin to sign the 'long-term cooperation agreement.' Bloomberg: Trump's team is considering oil sanctions against the Iranian government. Britain and Ukraine are signing a '100-year security pact.' A Biden administration official stated that Russia's nuclear threat did not hinder U.S. support for Ukraine.