Moscow and Tehran on Thursday officially brought into force their long-negotiated Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, a move both sides hailed as a defining moment in their bilateral relations.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry described the accord as a “milestone reflecting the strategic choice of both leaderships” to confront shared challenges and to operate within what they call an “emerging multipolar world order.”
The treaty, signed in Moscow on January 17 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, replaces the 2001 “Treaty on the Basis of Relations and Principles of Cooperation.”
Negotiations stretched over several years, during which ties cooled and strengthened. The final draft, completed last autumn, underscores the two nations’ determination to expand economic collaboration, mitigate the effects of US sanctions, and strengthen military and political coordination.
Designed to guide relations for the next two decades, the treaty covers a wide range of areas, including defense, counterterrorism, energy, finance, and cultural cooperation. Its 47 articles emphasize technological exchange, cybersecurity, peaceful nuclear energy, regional coordination, environmental protection, and measures against organized crime and money laundering.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the treaty “provides an updated legal foundation for enhancing cooperation internationally in a multipolar world,” with a focus on closer alignment in multilateral organizations and joint efforts to promote regional security and stability.
It also reflects the “strategic choice of the political leadership in both countries to deepen relations of friendship and good neighborliness in line with the fundamental interests of their peoples,” it added.
The agreement calls for broader trade and economic ties, along with expanded military cooperation, including potential joint exercises.
While it stops short of a mutual defense pact - something Iran had pressed for but Moscow resisted - it does stipulate that if either party is attacked, the other must not support the aggressor. Both sides also pledged not to allow their territories to be used by separatist groups threatening the other.
In addition, Moscow and Tehran reaffirmed their rejection of international sanctions, labeling them “illegal.” Each side committed not to join or enforce restrictions imposed by third countries.
Other provisions include expanding media cooperation to counter “disinformation and hostile propaganda,” coordinating responses to natural or man-made disasters, and building independent defense infrastructure free from reliance on third parties.
Among the highlighted projects is a planned gas pipeline running from Russia to Iran via Azerbaijan, with pricing mechanisms still under negotiation. The treaty also reinforces joint work on nuclear energy, particularly the development of new civilian facilities.
The agreement coincides with a separate deal signed in Moscow last week to construct eight small nuclear power plants in Iran. The accord was concluded between Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev and Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. Tehran hopes the project will help it reach a nuclear power capacity of 20 gigawatts by 2040.
Iran, which suffers from recurring electricity shortages, currently operates only one nuclear power plant in Bushehr, built with Russian assistance and producing roughly one gigawatt. That plant, first started by a German consortium in the 1970s but abandoned after the 1979 revolution, was eventually completed by Russia and came online in 2011. Two additional Bushehr units, valued at $10 billion, are scheduled to be operational between 2025 and 2027.
