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Russia and Iran Have a Troubled History Despite their Current Alliance

FILE - In this photo released by the Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops travel in a plane from Rasht in northern Iran, to Kermanshah in western Iran, during a drill on Jan. 5, 2025. (Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released by the Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops travel in a plane from Rasht in northern Iran, to Kermanshah in western Iran, during a drill on Jan. 5, 2025. (Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)
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Russia and Iran Have a Troubled History Despite their Current Alliance

FILE - In this photo released by the Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops travel in a plane from Rasht in northern Iran, to Kermanshah in western Iran, during a drill on Jan. 5, 2025. (Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released by the Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops travel in a plane from Rasht in northern Iran, to Kermanshah in western Iran, during a drill on Jan. 5, 2025. (Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting his Iranian counterpart Friday for the signing of a broad pact between Moscow and Tehran.
The Kremlin says the “comprehensive strategic partnership” agreement between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will take their cooperation to a new level.
The signing comes ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to broker peace in Ukraine and take a tougher stance on Iran.
What to know about the Russian-Iranian relationship:
Historic Rivals Become Allies
Russia and Iran fought wars in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the Russian Empire capturing broad territories in the Caucasus and the Caspian region previously controlled by Persian rulers. In the early 20th century, Russian troops occupied large parts of northern Iran, but the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution ended their presence. In World War II, the Soviet Union and Britain invaded Iran, which still evokes painful memories in Tehran.
Tensions ran high in the Cold War, when Tehran was a US ally under the Shah of Iran. After his ouster in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, leader Khomeini castigated the US as the “Great Satan,” and denounced the USSR as the “Lesser Satan.”
Russia-Iran ties warmed after the USSR's demise in 1991. Moscow became an important trade partner and a key supplier of weapons and high technologies to Iran, which faced isolation from sweeping international sanctions.
Russia built Iran’s first nuclear power plant in the port of Bushehr that became operational in 2013. The next year, Moscow signed a contract to build two more nuclear reactors.
Russia was part of the 2015 deal between Iran and six nuclear powers offering sanctions relief for Tehran in exchange for curbing its atomic program and opening it to broader international scrutiny. Moscow offered political support to Iran when the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement during Trump’s first term.
Allies In Syrian Civil War In Bolstering Assad
After a civil war in Syria erupted in 2011, Russia and Iran pooled efforts to shore up Bashar Assad's government against the Türkiye-backed opposition seeking his ouster. In 2015, Russia launched a military campaign in Syria, joining Iran and its proxies, that helped Assad re-establish control in most of the country.
With Moscow preoccupied with fighting in Ukraine, and Iran facing challenges from Israel, they failed to prevent a swift collapse of Assad’s rule last month after a lightning opposition offensive.
How Russia And Iran Cooperate
The West alleges that in 2022, Russia and Iran signed a $1.7 billion deal for Shahed drones after Putin sent troops into Ukraine, and the US also believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles, but neither Moscow nor Tehran ever acknowledged the actions.
Iranian leaders give strong political support to Putin, echoing his arguments for justifying the conflict.
Tehran likely hopes to secure financial and defense promises from Moscow for its tattered economy after the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal and amid increasing pressure in the Middle East.
Assad’s downfall was a major blow to Tehran's self-described “Axis of Resistance” in the region after Israel’s punishing offensives against two militant groups backed by Iran -– Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel attacked Iran directly twice, and Israeli officials claimed the raids took out Tehran's Russia-supplied S-300 air defense systems.
Iran wants Russian long-range air defense systems and other weapons. It has hoped to get Russia's advanced Su-35 fighter jets to upgrade its aging fleet hobbled by sanctions, but Moscow only provided a few Yak-130 trainer jets in 2023.
Trump's policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran heralds more trouble for Tehran. This month, he left open the possibility of the US preemptive airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, but some officials increasingly suggest it could pursue atomic weapons.
Deepening ties between Moscow and Tehran Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty covers all areas -– from trade and military cooperation to science, education and culture. He dismissed any link with Trump’s inauguration, saying the signing was planned long ago.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described it as a “fully comprehensive treaty that takes into account all dimensions of the relationship, with a particularly strong economic aspect.”
He told state TV that while it covers defense and security cooperation, “this is a complete and comprehensive treaty, not one focused on a specific purpose, such as a military alliance.”
Healing Rifts, Lifting Suspicions
Despite the official rhetoric, the nations' troubled history makes many Iranians suspicious about Russia. Kremlin efforts to balance courting Tehran while staying friendly with Israel adds to the uneasiness.
There are signs of growing discontent about Russia within Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Last week, an audio recording leaked in Iranian media with a Guard general blaming Russia for woes Iran suffered in Syria.

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How Long Will It Take and How Much Will It Cost to Rebuild Gaza?

A young Palestinian girl walks along a street on a misty morning in Khan Younis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (AFP)
A young Palestinian girl walks along a street on a misty morning in Khan Younis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (AFP)
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How Long Will It Take and How Much Will It Cost to Rebuild Gaza?

A young Palestinian girl walks along a street on a misty morning in Khan Younis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (AFP)
A young Palestinian girl walks along a street on a misty morning in Khan Younis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (AFP)

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are eager to leave miserable tent camps and return to their homes if a long-awaited ceasefire agreement halts the Israel-Hamas war, but many will find there is nothing left and no way to rebuild.

Israeli bombardment and ground operations have transformed entire neighborhoods in several cities into rubble-strewn wastelands, with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris stretching away in all directions. Major roads have been plowed up. Critical water and electricity infrastructure is in ruins. Most hospitals no longer function.

And it's unclear when — or even if — much will be rebuilt.

The agreement for a phased ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas-led fighters does not say who will govern Gaza after the war, or whether Israel and Egypt will lift a blockade limiting the movement of people and goods that they imposed when Hamas seized power in 2007.

The United Nations says that it could take more than 350 years to rebuild if the blockade remains.

Two-thirds of all structures destroyed

The full extent of the damage will only be known when the fighting ends and inspectors have full access to the territory. The most heavily destroyed part of Gaza, in the north, has been sealed off and largely depopulated by Israeli forces in an operation that began in early October.

Using satellite data, the United Nations estimated last month that 69% of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes. The World Bank estimated $18.5 billion in damage — nearly the combined economic output of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022 — from just the first four months of the war.

Israel blames the destruction on Hamas, which ignited the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters.

Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. The military has released photos and video footage showing that Hamas built tunnels and rocket launchers in residential areas, and often operated in and around homes, schools and mosques.

Mountains of rubble to be moved

Before anything can be rebuilt, the rubble must be removed — a staggering task in itself.

The UN estimates that the war has littered Gaza with over 50 million tons of rubble — roughly 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. With over 100 trucks working full time, it would take over 15 years to clear the rubble away, and there is little open space in the narrow coastal territory that is home to some 2.3 million Palestinians.

Carting the debris away will also be complicated by the fact that it contains huge amounts of unexploded ordnance and other harmful materials, as well as human remains. Gaza's Health Ministry says thousands of people killed in airstrikes are still buried under the rubble.

No plan for the day after

The rubble clearance and eventual rebuilding of homes will require billions of dollars and the ability to bring construction materials and heavy equipment into the territory — neither of which is assured.

The ceasefire agreement calls for a three- to five-year reconstruction project to begin in its final phase, after all the remaining 100 hostages have been released and Israeli troops have withdrawn from the territory.

But getting to that point will require agreement on the second and most difficult phase of the deal, which still must be negotiated.

Even then, the ability to rebuild will depend on the blockade, which critics have long decried as a form of collective punishment. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities, noting that cement and metal pipes can also be used for tunnels and rockets.

Israel might be more inclined to lift the blockade if Hamas were no longer in power, but there are no plans for an alternative government.

The United States and much of the international community want a revitalized Palestinian Authority to govern the West Bank and Gaza with the support of Arab countries ahead of eventual statehood. But that's a nonstarter for Israel's government, which is opposed to a Palestinian state and has ruled out any role in Gaza for the Western-backed authority.

International donors are unlikely to invest in an ungoverned territory that has seen five wars in less than two decades, which means the sprawling tent camps along the coast could become a permanent feature of life in Gaza.