Moscow and Tehran are about to agree a deal that will cement closer military and security cooperation, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Speaking at the Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security in Belarus, Lavrov said that a treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the countries, which had been announced last week, was being prepared.
Since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ties between Moscow and Tehran, particularly in the military sphere, have deepened. Newsweek has contacted the Iranian and Russian foreign ministries for comment.
Lavrov said on Thursday how there would be even closer cooperation with Tehran, telling the audience in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, "a serious factor in strengthening Russian-Iranian relations will be the upcoming treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Iran."
"This agreement is being prepared for signing in the near future," Lavrov said in comments reported by Russian state media.
"It will confirm the parties' desire for closer cooperation in the field of defense and interaction in the interests of peace and security at the regional and global levels," Lavrov added, without giving further details of when it would be signed.
Putin had announced the agreement on October 23 during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian at the BRICS summit of emerging economies in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan, state news agency Tass reported.
Moscow has relied on Iran for Shahed drones to strike Ukrainian infrastructure during the war, although Tehran denies providing the devices.
In September, the U.S. accused Tehran of providing Russia with close-range ballistic missiles to Moscow for use against Ukraine, and imposed sanctions on ships and companies it said were involved in delivering Iranian arms.
However, Iran's relationship with Russia could be affected by the outcome of the U.S. election next week, Hamidreza Azizi, research fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told Newsweek.
Kremlin propagandists have shown their preference for a Donald Trump win, given his calls for a deal to end the war and criticism of U.S. aid for Kyiv.
"Putin has shown in the past decades more than once that, when strategic interests of its relations with the West, especially the United States, are on the table, he is ready to forgo cooperation or partnership with Iran," Azizi said.
"That can be the case if Trump gets elected, and then if Putin sees momentum, we may actually see some sort of 'Ukraine for Iran' deal between Putin and Trump," Azizi said. "Of course, that is more easily said than done, but that can be the case."
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