The long-anticipated Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Russia and Iran officially came into force on October 2, marking a new chapter in their bilateral ties. Signed in Moscow on January 17, 2025, by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the agreement was ratified over the following months—Russia in April and Iran in May—before becoming fully operative.
The treaty is structured as a 20-year framework (with automatic renewal mechanisms), setting out long-term cooperation in economic, political, energy, security, cultural, scientific, and technological domains. Among its provisions are joint commitments on regional stability, coordinated multilateral diplomacy, deeper military-technical collaboration, mutual opposition to sanctions and external coercion, and a pledge not to allow their territories to host actors threatening the territorial integrity of the other.
In its official announcement, the Russian Foreign Ministry described the activation of the treaty as a “milestone” in the history of Russian-Iranian relations, elevating ties to a broader strategic partnership in line with their perceived shared interests in a shifting global order. The ministry emphasized that under the agreement, Moscow and Tehran will strengthen coordination within major international forums, deepen security and defense cooperation, and resist what both governments view as unilateral coercive pressures.
