The world is still witnessing the brutal attacks of the Zionist regime on Gaza, and the actions of various states and the movements of the Middle East countries have not had an effect in stopping the crimes of the Zionist regime. Following the diplomatic efforts of our country for the past two months to stop genocide in Gaza, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been traveling to Moscow, and intensive consultations were made at the highest level.
The two neighboring countries as the most important countries in the Eurasian region and located in the peripheral areas of the Caspian Sea, the very important and strategic area of Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Persian Gulf, and the Black Sea have always played an important role in regional and international interactions, especially in the Middle East in the past decade.
Relations between the two countries have entered a new phase since the end of the 20th century and after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The fact is, of course, that the parties have less been able to utilize the potential of the two countries to enhance and expand relations in various political and military economic dimensions. At the same time, the relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran with different countries, including Russia, have been and will continue to be subject to important components. One of the most important components is the situation governing international relations and the type of interactions of great powers in the international arena. In the last two decades, it has played an important role in the formation of the process and the state of relations between Tehran and Moscow.
It is no secret that Russia started a new international approach a decade ago and has reconsidered saying yes to the excesses of the hegemon of the West so that after the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya by the American forces, Moscow realized that the period of interaction and dialogue with the West, especially the United States, is over and requires a fundamental change. Therefore, with defense and security cooperation with our country, this country prevented the occupation of Syria by the Euro-Atlantic axis and prevented the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
The fact is that the Islamic Republic of Iran has paid special attention to the all-round expansion of relations with its neighbors in the 13th government, a policy whose basis is regional balance and stability based on influential political, economic, cultural, and security components, and we witness that the reality is that the relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran in various dimensions, especially in the political and economic sectors, with the neighbors as gone through a growing trend in the last two years, and one of the important components of which is the meeting of the heads of the Islamic Republic of Iran and many countries in the region, including Russia, Turkey, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the majority of the heads of 15 neighboring countries.
As a result of these political interactions, the process of convergence and membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in a number of important regional organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), and BRICS is in a forward position. Also, economic relations with these countries have grown significantly over the past few years. For example, if in previous years, the economic exchanges of our country with the Russian Federation always recorded between 1 and 2 billion dollars, this year we have witnessed a significant growth of exchanges, and it is predicted that these relations will reach 4 billion dollars this year. Currently, the two countries emphasize effective cooperation in several important areas, which can be mentioned as follows:
A: Political, military, and security cooperation, which, in this section, we can refer to the negotiations between the heads of the two countries and foreign ministers on important regional and international issues, the Vienna negotiations, the developments in the Central Asia and North Caucasus regions, and more importantly, the consultations between Tehran and Moscow to end the Zionist crimes in Gaza. Also, the situation is such that the military cooperation of the two countries and the provision of some defense needs with high technical knowledge is significant and valuable.
B: The expansion of economic, commercial, and technical cooperation between the two countries has been seriously pursued by signing dozens of documents in recent years. The fact is that Russia, with more than 600 billion dollars of foreign exchange, is a good platform and capacity for the foreign trade of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the export of technical and engineering services. Also, this country has good industrial and technical capabilities to meet Iran's needs. Also, the market of this country has good reception for Iran's exclusive goods, such as dried fruit, carpet, date, and even industrial products of Iran, one of the important examples of which in the industry sector was recently seen in the field of car production and the supply of car spare parts between our two countries. Undoubtedly, providing the necessary platforms to facilitate exchanges by creating an easy mechanism for bank exchanges, tariff facilities, import of goods, and customs cooperation can lead to the expansion of bilateral relations.
C: The issue of corridors has also been considered as one of the important axes of cooperation. In this section, we see the demonstration of Moscow's will to make the north and south corridors operational. Undoubtedly, the two countries have other capabilities in the field of electricity production, extraction and production of oil and gas products, cooperation in basic industries, and advanced technologies.
D: Among the other axes of cooperation, it goes back to the culture, science, technology sector, and a kind of public diplomacy. In this sector, there are good complementary capacities between the two countries. In the academic field, despite the significant capacities of the two countries, there is a possibility of wider interactions in the exchange of professors and students, carrying out joint research projects, and actually cooperating in high-level scientific programs.
Also, it is important to provide the preparations for the exchange of more tourists. In the tourism sector, it is also possible to point out Russia's vast capacity to send tourists to different countries such as Turkey, Persian Gulf countries, etc.
In a general summary, according to the consultation of the heads of the two countries, it can be acknowledged that extraordinary conditions have been provided for the expansion of relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia, and it is important to be vigilant and take effective action by the agents of both the private and public sectors in order to implement the agreements and improving relations in all fields. Of course, there is no doubt that opportunities will not last forever. The last word is that Dr. Raisi's visit to Moscow while helping the growing process of bilateral relations, will play an important role in bringing the regional and international perspectives of the two countries closer and especially helping to stop the attacks of the Zionist regime and stop the human tragedies in Gaza.
Ali Bemaneqbali Zarch, a senior expert in Eurasia
(The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the IPIS)