What Do Russian Media Say About the 'Strategic Agreement' Between Iran and Russia?

Iran and Russia are set to sign a strategic agreement during the first visit of Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of the Islamic Republic, to Moscow. This document, known as the 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement,' aims to expand political, economic, and defense interactions, and according to the Kremlin spokesperson, it will serve as the basis for bilateral agreements in multiple fields. Recently, Kazem Jalali, Iran's ambassador to Russia, announced that the new document includes 47 articles, but further details have not yet been disclosed. Since this document must be ratified by the parliaments of both countries, the full text is expected to be published soon. The new agreement is intended to replace a treaty signed by Russia and Iran in 2001, which could be renewed indefinitely every five years. However, on its twentieth anniversary, Hassan Rouhani's government called for an update to the cooperation agreement with Russia; subsequently, the thirteenth government declared strategic relations with China and Russia as international priorities. Following the signing of a long-term cooperation document with China, the drafting of a similar document with Russia began, but its coordination took much longer than initially expected, only reaching a new level with the war between Russia and Ukraine, where Iran's role in supplying weapons and circumventing Western sanctions became prominent. Diplomatic sources told Russian media that 'the unprecedented expansion of interactions between the two countries necessitates the new agreement.' Russian media covering the signing of the comprehensive agreement with Iran have primarily focused on the following topics: Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, refrained from giving a clear answer to journalists' questions and merely emphasized that this document is of great importance to Russia. A few months ago, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, stated that the agreement with Iran would facilitate the expansion of military-defense cooperation between the two countries. The newspaper Kommersant quoted an unnamed senior diplomat who identified cooperation on defense and security issues as 'an important part' of the new document. However, recently, Kazem Jalali, the Iranian ambassador in Moscow, emphasized that the new document would not include mutual defense clauses similar to those mentioned in agreements between Russia and North Korea or Belarus. According to TASS and the Iranian ambassador in Russia, 'independence and self-sufficiency in defense and security matters are very important for Iran, and Tehran has no interest or need to participate in military alliances.' This comes while Iran, alongside Belarus and North Korea, supports Russia's war against Ukraine. Following the signing of the treaty between Russia and North Korea last summer, Pyongyang sent its soldiers to assist Russian troops and has openly increased arms shipments. Official Russian and Iranian representatives emphasize that the strategic cooperation agreement between Russia and Iran is the result of intensive consultations over the past ten years, especially in the last two or three years, and 'has nothing to do with current developments in the international arena.' However, all Russian media have declared the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement between Russia and Iran as a 'clear message' to Donald Trump. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, 'Russia and Iran are taking a decisive step towards each other while Donald Trump, the elected President of the United States, advocates maximum pressure on Iran and does not rule out war with this country.' Vladimir Sazhin, an expert on Iranian affairs, stated in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta that 'the work on this document took years. The fact that the groundwork for its signing was finally laid days before Donald Trump entered the White House means that Moscow and Tehran are sending a message to Washington that they are united against the West and have formed a front against it despite recent sanctions and turmoil in the Middle East.' The Kommersant newspaper emphasized this point, stating that Russia and Iran, by signing the new agreement during a time when 'all eyes are on Washington and no one is sure about the steps of the new U.S. government,' are sending Donald Trump 'a positive message and a warning message.' The newspaper added: 'On the one hand, the Russian and Iranian governments want to show Trump that they are ready for cooperation, and on the other hand, they warn that a united front has formed against the West, and if Washington seeks hostile steps, it will face a strong shield that Moscow and Tehran have jointly taken up.' At the same time, according to this report, 'given the significant differences in Russia's relations with Iran and U.S. policies towards Iran, it is unlikely that Moscow and Tehran's cooperation will face serious challenges immediately after the signing of the new agreement and could be a source of further tensions between Moscow and Tehran and Western countries, especially the U.S.' Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Foreign Minister, announced three important sections in the new cooperation agreement with Russia: economic, scientific-technical, and cultural. Kazem Jalali, the Iranian ambassador in Moscow, in a recent interview with TASS, called this document 'the key to deepening economic relations' and expressed hope that with the signing of this document, the 'upward trend' of trade-economic interactions between the two countries would continue. According to the Iranian ambassador in Russia, trade interactions between the two countries increased 'to over four billion dollars' last year. Iran's customs statistics estimate trade exchanges with Russia at 1.9 billion dollars over the first nine months of the current solar year. According to Nikita Smagin, an expert on Iranian affairs, this means that 'despite officials' claims, trade exchanges between the two countries, which peaked in 2020 and reached five billion dollars, have again declined and cannot increase further because the fundamental obstacles that have never allowed Iran and Russia to become significant trading partners remain in place.' While Kremlin-affiliated media have turned a blind eye to the differences between Moscow and Tehran, Iranian officials insist that Tehran will not recognize the occupied territories of Ukraine as part of Russian territory, prompting protests from the 'Z Group,' which consists of reporters supporting Russia's war against Ukraine and has become one of the most important news sources in Russia in the limited media space on Telegram. Opposition media to the Kremlin have pointed out that despite close cooperation, relations between Russia and Iran are complex and fraught with tensions. A report by the Russian section of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty highlights the differences between Moscow and Tehran regarding the occupied territories of Ukraine, the three islands, and the Zangezur corridor, Moscow's failure to fulfill economic, nuclear, and military contracts with Tehran, and the problems that have arisen for both countries following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. Nikolai Mashadov, a Middle East expert, stated in an interview with the Russian section of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the signing of the new agreement is 'only a historic step on paper and will not lead to fundamental changes in the relations between the two countries.' The Moscow Times reported: 'Iran and Russia have been distrustful of each other in the past, and now they do not trust each other.' According to this report, 'the Iranian government wants to benefit from rapprochement with Russia but this step will provoke protests from the Iranian people.'