Russia wants closer ties with Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated this week, according to Russian state media and Iranian media.
"We have very good relations with Iran. And we will enhance them in every possible way... That is why we do our utmost in order to develop relations with Iran, and will keep this up in the future," Putin said.
The Russian leader referenced the historic ties and proximity of Persia and Russia. This appears to be a reference to the two historic empires that played a key role in history for hundreds of years.
Putin also discussed establishing educational institutions in Iran, as part of a broader goal to forge closer ties. Iran and Russia have worked together for more than two decades, but the countries have not always progressed directly to more multi-layered ties.
Growing Russia-Iran ties
For instance, Iran’s Islamic regime in the 1980s was not close to the Soviet Union. In the 1990s Iran sought Russian support for various defense and technological programs. Now Iran supplies Russia with drones. Russia also played a key role in the Iran deal of 2015.
The Russian leader also discussed “soft power” as a way for Iran-Russia ties to improve. “Soft power in the kindest and best sense of this word, the promotion of our culture and our education systems. We will mull this over as well," the Russian president said, according to Russia’s TASS media.
The comments come as part of a larger package of comments from Putin about the need to have a multi-polar world that is more “democratic.” This is ironic because he was speaking about the need for authoritarian regimes like Russia to challenge the US-led democratic world order. From Moscow’s point of view, the world is run by a US-led “dictatorship,” which essentially is a critique of the G7 and other powerful economic and political or cultural blocs.
"The world is gradually getting rid of the dictatorship of a financial and economic model aimed at driving into debt and servitude, turning into economic colonies and depriving entire regions of the world of resources for development," Putin said. "Therefore, building a multipolar world order that is more democratic, honest, and fair for the majority of humanity is simply inevitable, historically necessary," he said.
Countries like Iran, Russia, and China all want to shift away from the West and from the US dollar. They want to avoid any kind of sanctions or attempts by the West to challenge organizations like BRICS.
Fars News in Iran also highlighted Putin’s comments. Speaking to the winners and finalists of the Russian Teacher of the Year competition in Sochi, Putin explained, according to Fars, "We have very good relations with Iran and we will develop these relations in every possible way." The reports in Iranian media basically re-reported what Russian state media had already said.
However, Iranian websites sought to highlight these comments as a way of showing approval.