The Russian and Iranian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian signed a 20-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty in Moscow on January 17.  

Russian media reports say the document is expected to bring relations between Moscow and Tehran to a new level: it enshrines their status as strategic partners.  The agreement also establishes a legal framework for the further development of cooperation in the long term.

TASS reports that according to Russian and Iranian officials, the agreement covers all spheres, including defense, counter-terrorism, energy, finance, transport, industry, agriculture, culture, science and engineering.

During a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the countries are trying to resolve technical obstacles to advance planned projects to ship Russian natural gas to Iran via Azerbaijan and build transport corridors to Iranian ports in the Gulf.

Russia could eventually supply up to 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Iran, said Putin.

Russian president also noted that Russia was considering building new nuclear power units in Iran.

Iran’s IRNA says Tehran and Moscow emphasized their determination to expand bilateral cooperation in the form of a new document.

According to IRNA, the reason for the authorities of Tehran and Moscow to prioritize the signing of this treaty is that the previous agreement no longer accommodated the growing volume of relations between the two countries in various dimensions,

Iran and Russia, which share common and close views in many ways from international and regional issues, including confronting US hegemony, have outlined a roadmap for their cooperation at different levels.

According to diplomatic sources, this document covers all aspects of bilateral relations; including political ones, IRNA says.

Meanwhile, Western media outlets note that Iranian president’s visit came ahead of Monday’s inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to broker peace in Ukraine and take a tougher stance on Iran, which is grappling with growing economic problems and other challenges, including military setbacks in its sphere of influence across the Middle East.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, dismissed any link with Trump’s inauguration, saying that Pezeshkian’s visit had been planned long ago.

The Associated Press (AP) says the signing of the treaty with Iran follows last year’s pact with North Korea -- countries once identified by former President George W. Bush, along with Iraq, as “the Axis of Evil.”

Unlike the treaty with Pyongyang, the pact with Tehran doesn’t envisage mutual assistance in case of aggression. But it does oblige each country not to offer any military or any other aid to an aggressor attacking another party.

Moscow and Tehran, which both have faced massive Western sanctions, agreed in the document to coordinate their response to such restrictions and facilitate payments in national currencies. The pact also envisions the exchange of intelligence information and cooperation on security issues.

The BBC says Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran, along with China and North Korea, since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.