Analysis: Russia, Iran strengthen alliance after Syria setback | Politics News [Video]

Iran and Russia have finalised a long-delayed cooperation agreement, reinforcing ties between the two countries just as they both face mounting geopolitical pressures.

The 20-year deal, signed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday, enhances military and defence cooperation, and includes a clause that neither country would allow its territory to be used for any action that would threaten the safety of the other, nor provide any help to any party attacking either country.

Such a deal has been talked about for years, but current events have made the need for an agreement more pressing.

For Russia, the war in Ukraine has strained its geopolitical standing, while Iran, in addition to Moscow, has been grappling with Western sanctions and the fallout from Israel’s attacks on and weakening of several of its allies in the region, as well as the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria in early December.

It is arguably …