MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Relations between Russia and Iran will grow stronger day by day due to the presence of a common adversary - the United States, Abolfazl Bazargan, a professor of Tehran University and an expert in the field of international security, has told TASS.

"The future of Russian-Iranian relations in general is under the influence of transformations the international order is undergoing. The Ukrainian crisis is the turning point. Relations between the two countries have become closer, and as long as the conflict in Ukraine continues, Russia-Iran relations will grow stronger day by day. The reason for this is clear - the presence of a common adversary - the United States," Bazargan believes. According to the political analyst, "no matter what happens, relations between Russia and Iran will never return to the condition that existed before February 2022, because the world will not be what it was then again, and the number of sanctions imposed against Russia will not return to that level."

"Iran and Russia will retain the opportunities for developing relations," Bazargan concluded.

Cooperation between Russia and Iran has intensified in recent years. Moscow and Tehran actively cooperate in the energy sector. In October 2022, Russia and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of deposits worth $4 billion, as well as an agreement on laying gas pipelines and building facilities for the production of liquefied natural gas worth $40 billion. The last face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi took place on December 7, 2023, when the Iranian president paid an official visit to Moscow. The countries also cooperate within BRICS (Tehran joined the group on January 1, 2024), the SCO and on other international platforms. According to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Russia-Iran trade in 2023 amounted to about $4 billion in 2023.