Front against the West

Russia and Iran become “strategic partners”

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are moving even closer together.(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/Alexander SHCHERBAK)

Russia and Iran are moving even closer together. As the Kremlin announced on Monday, President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian will agree a "strategic partnership" at a meeting on Friday.

Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed a similar partnership in June last year in the North Korean capital Pyongyang - including a military assistance clause. Article 4 of the agreement states: "If one of the Parties is subjected to an armed attack by one or more states and is thus in a state of war, the other Party shall immediately provide military and other assistance by all means at its disposal."

Russia is already receiving massive arms assistance from North Korea.(Bild: APA/AFP/KCNA VIA KNS/STR)

Massive support from North Korea
Since then, billions of dollars worth of armaments - primarily artillery shells and short-range missiles - have been sent to Russia. North Korean soldiers are also taking part in Russia's fight against Ukraine. 

Pezeshkian and Putin last met in October during the summit of the BRICS states in the Russian city of Kazan. On this occasion, the Kremlin leader praised the "friendly" relations between Tehran and Moscow and called for the "positive dynamics" in the field of economic cooperation to be consolidated.

"Economy and issues of defense and security"
The next step is apparently to be taken on Friday. The agreement between Moscow and Tehran concerns "economic and trade cooperation" as well as "defense and security issues", the Iranian embassy in Russia announced last week on the online service Telegram. 

The West has imposed far-reaching sanctions on both Russia and Iran. Both countries have expanded their cooperation in the military sector, among other things. Ukraine and its allies accuse Tehran of supplying Russia with combat drones for its military offensive in Ukraine.