Iran–Russia relations
In 1521, the Safavid Shah Ismail I sent an emissary to visit Czar Vasili III. This moment marked the official start of relations between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Persian Empire. The two powers operated on a level of equity until 1720. Before this date, trade flowed along the Volga-Caspian route. Merchants from Muscovy set up business in cities as far south as Kashan. They traded furs, honey, and slaves for Persian goods. The Muscovy Company founded in 1553 expanded these routes across the Caspian Sea. Russian victories over the Kazan Khanate in 1552 revived trade with Iran. These early exchanges emerged from opposition to the neighboring Ottoman Empire. In 1650, extensive contact culminated in the Russo-Persian War that lasted from 1651 to 1653. Russia had to cede its footholds in the North Caucasus to the Safavids after this conflict.
Peter the Great attacked Iran in 1722, initiating a long series of campaigns against the Safavids. He made Astrakhan his base for hostilities and captured territories in the Caucasus and northern mainland Iran. After political chaos followed the fall of Shah Sultan Husayn, Nader Shah rose to power. Fearing a costly war, Russians retreated from the entire Caucasus under the Treaty of Resht in 1732. Relations soured when Nader Shah accused them of conspiring against him. A weakened Qajarid government signed the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 following the Russo-Persian War of 1804, 1813. This treaty irrevocably ceded modern-day Dagestan, Georgia, and large parts of Azerbaijan. The Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828 resulted in the loss of Armenia and the remainder of Azerbaijan. Alexander Griboyedov, a famous Russian intellectual and ambassador, was killed by angry mobs in Tehran during these uprisings. Thousands of Russian settlers moved into Mazandaran and Astarabad provinces by 1912. Colonel V. Liakhov shelled the Persian National Assembly in 1911.
The Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917 had a comparable effect throughout Iran as the March revolution. The Constitutionalist movement of Gilan led by Mirza Kuchak Khan followed up the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. In 1920, the Soviet Union established the short-lived Persian Socialist Soviet Republic. After its fall, political relations renewed in late 1921 through the Russo-Persian Treaty of Friendship. During World War II, the Soviet Union and United Kingdom launched an undeclared joint invasion of Iran in 1941. A cable sent on the 6th of July 1945 instructed local commanders to form a national autonomous Azerbaijan district within the Iranian state. The Soviets supported two puppet states after the war: the Azerbaijan People's Government and the Republic of Mahabad. Both collapsed in the Iran crisis of 1946. The Soviet secret service carried out clandestine operations on Iranian soil to eliminate White émigrés between the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of Russians fled the country after the October Revolution and settled in northern Persia.
Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia in March 2000 and inaugurated on May 7 that year. He hosted Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in Moscow in March 2001. They signed the Treaty on the Basic Elements of Relations and Principles of Cooperation. Reports suggested Russia was ready to sell Iran $4 billion in arms and equipment between 1997 and 2007. By 1995, both countries described their growing ties as strategic. In May 2007, Iran received an invitation to join the Collective Security Treaty Organization from secretary-general Nikolai Bordyuzha. This invitation came from the desk of then CSTO secretary-general Nikolai Bordyuzha. Russia became Iran's primary arms supplier between 2000 and 2007, accounting for approximately 85% of total military imports. Deliveries during this period were valued at $1.96 billion. The two nations deepened cooperation to counter Western-backed energy projects like the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline in 1999.
In September 2010, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning further delivery of armored vehicles, warplanes, helicopters, and ships to Iran. This followed UN Security Council Resolution 1929 which imposed sanctions banning heavy weaponry sales. Russia completed delivery of four S-300 batteries to Iran in November 2016 after lifting the ban on the system. In June 2022, a Russian delegation visited Kashan Airfield south of Tehran to observe drones manufactured by Iran. On the 6th of October 2022, Iran agreed to provide additional surface-to-air missiles and drones to Russia. By 2025, a large manufacturing facility in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan had localized the vast majority of Shahed-136 loitering munitions production. In August 2025, Russia provided Iran with advanced Krasukha electronic warfare systems. These systems employ broadband multifunctional electronic attack capabilities that interfere with radar and satellite signals. Mohammad Sadr accused Russia of disclosing Iranian air defense locations on the 24th of August 2025.
Russia and Iran co-founded the Gas Exporting Countries Forum along with Qatar. Trade relations increased from US$1 billion in 2005 to $3.7 billion in 2008. Motor vehicles, fruits, vegetables, glass, textiles, plastics, chemicals, hand-woven carpets, stone, and plaster products were among main non-oil goods exported to Russia. A historic US$20 billion oil for goods deal was signed in August 2014. In early February 2023, Tehran and Moscow fully linked the Russian Financial Messaging System SPFS with Iran's SEPAM national financial messaging service. Both countries had been excluded from SWIFT. In May 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji met in Tehran to discuss oil swaps and joint investments. On the 29th of September 2025, Iran signed a $25 billion agreement with Russia to build four small nuclear power plants in Sirik. These Generation III reactors are expected to produce 5 GW of electricity. In December 2025, Iran launched three domestically developed satellites using a Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Vostochny Cosmodrome.
Common questions
When did Iran and Russia officially establish diplomatic relations?
In 1521, the Safavid Shah Ismail I sent an emissary to visit Czar Vasili III. This moment marked the official start of relations between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Persian Empire.
What treaties caused Iran to lose territory to Russia in the 19th century?
The Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 ceded modern-day Dagestan, Georgia, and large parts of Azerbaijan. The Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828 resulted in the loss of Armenia and the remainder of Azerbaijan.
How much military equipment did Russia supply to Iran between 2000 and 2007?
Russia became Iran's primary arms supplier between 2000 and 2007, accounting for approximately 85% of total military imports. Deliveries during this period were valued at $1.96 billion.
Why did Russia ban further delivery of armored vehicles to Iran in September 2010?
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning further delivery of armored vehicles, warplanes, helicopters, and ships to Iran. This followed UN Security Council Resolution 1929 which imposed sanctions banning heavy weaponry sales.
When did Iran sign an agreement with Russia to build nuclear power plants?
On the 29th of September 2025, Iran signed a $25 billion agreement with Russia to build four small nuclear power plants in Sirik. These Generation III reactors are expected to produce 5 GW of electricity.