علیرضا حجتی

The international system that emerged in the ۱۹th century after the Congress of Vienna has never enjoyed stability or continuity, and over the past two centuries it has always been subject to change and transformation. It evolved from a multipolar state in the late ۱۹th century to a bipolar and then unipolar system in the ۲۰th century. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of a unipolar system, a new order took hold in international relations. This new system, led by the United States, faced no rival and imposed the ideological dominance of liberal capitalism, as well as military, cultural, political, economic, and social hegemony of the White House on the international system and its political units.

With the beginning of the ۲۱st century, marked by events such as the ۹/۱۱ attacks in ۲۰۰۱ and the ۲۰۰۸ financial crisis, the inherent nature of the international system — that is, change and transformation — gradually reasserted itself. It became clear that this model of the international order was not permanent either, and that a new model was taking shape. Therefore, the international system is currently in a transitional phase, moving away from the established unipolar order.

Iran and Russia are two important countries that, due to the strategic compulsion of geographic proximity, have had a turbulent and fluctuating relationship throughout history. These relations have been influenced by numerous variables, including each country's interaction with the West, the rise or decline of their roles and positions, and the extent of Iran and Russia’s regional and international power and influence. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in ۱۹۹۱, political and military relations between the two countries expanded. The alliance between Russia and Iran — two revisionist actors in relation to the current international order — is based on various regional and international issues. These relations have emerged from the new geopolitical dynamics of the post-Cold War era and are tied to the positions of Russia and developing countries on the international stage.

In the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, despite shared regional interests and operational capabilities in regional scenarios, Moscow's pro-Western orientation prevented Iran from engaging and cooperating with Russia in international affairs. However, with the rise of Vladimir Putin in Russian politics and the onset of the country's independent and anti-Western policies in the early ۲۱st century, Tehran and Moscow began taking joint actions in this direction — a notable example being the domestic crisis in Syria.

The expansion of military and security cooperation between Iran and Russia, which produced positive results for both sides in the Syrian crisis, served as a prelude to strategic understanding in this area and within the context of the international system’s transitional phase. The outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the rapid security changes in Eastern Europe further deepened strategic cooperation between Tehran and Moscow. As a result, the view that military and security cooperation between Iran and Russia constitutes one of the influential pillars in the transitional phase of power in the international system has found its way into international politics studies.

This research, which covers the period from ۱۹۹۱ to ۲۰۲۳, seeks to address the following questions: Why have Iran–Russia relations expanded to an unprecedented extent, and what factors have brought these two countries closer? What role do external factors, such as the compulsion and punitive measures of the unipolar international order, play in the current Iran–Russia relationship? Does the Tehran–Moscow strategic partnership influence global developments affecting the transition to a new world order? And are we witnessing the formation of a Russo-Iranian axis based on an anti-American logic?