What Close Russia-Iran Ties Mean for Ukraine, Mideast

Russia and Iran aren’t natural partners. Until recently, the two nations tended to view one another with suspicion. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, however, an alliance has emerged, born not of shared values but a common adversary: the US and its allies. Military collaboration between the two countries has escalated significantly over the past two years. That’s helped Russia sustain its grinding war in Ukraine and given Iran hopes of significantly upgrading its military capabilities.

The two have a complicated backstory. The Russian and Persian empires fought repeatedly in past centuries. In the late 20th century, Iran supported the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, the guerrilla groups that successfully fought Soviet occupation of that country. More recently, Russia treated Iran with ambivalence, maintaining relations while viewing the country as a potentially destabilizing influence in its backyard. Russia for decades has sold Iran civilian nuclear technology, but concerns that the country was pursuing nuclear arms led Russia to join Western countries in 2015 in pressuring Tehran to put limits on its atomic program.