Iran's Position in Russia's Geopolitical Game: Unstable Balance in Difficult Conditions

Introduction: after the Soviet collapse, Iran’s role was limited in Russia’s foreign policy. Returning Putin in 2012-2013 and significant developments in the Middle East, relations between the two enhanced till the Ukraine war in 2022. After this crisis, this cooperation focused on issues related to this scene. With the fall of Assad, the most earnest issue of cooperation between the two countries on regional geopolitical issues has ended, and a correct understanding of Iran's geopolitical position in Russian politics at the regional and global levels has become an important issue. The main question is how the attitude of Russia has shifted during the Ukraine crisis, towards Iran? The hypothesis is that from the Kremlin's perspective, Iran is a follower of Moscow in international equations, a partner in the Eurasian territory, a fringe in the Russky Mir, and a balancing factor in the Middle East.

Method: The methodology is a qualitative analysis of the variables of the main hypothesis. The developments in Iran-Russia relations and Russian foreign policy in the past decade reviewed, since the Syrian crisis in 2011 and Ukraine crisis in 2014, using variables derived from theoretical foundations and comparing them with the variables of the main hypothesis. Four policy positions of this country consist of the international system, the Eurasian system, the Russky Mir military, and the West Asian regional system will be considered as the main positions of Russian policy. Using these four levels, we will discuss Iran's position in each of them from the perspective of Russia and present the necessary arguments for analyzing the main hypothesis. The findings of the school of foreign policy analysis have been utilized as a theoretical framework for their discussions. Thereby, the factors determining the geopolitical position of countries are more concerned with the domestic level, and issues such as the decision-making process, political elites, parties and movements of the country, as well as institutions, structures, ideology, political and strategic culture contribute to understand the position of foreign actors.

Result and discussion:. Since 2014, there has been a significant revision of Russia's international and regional policy, understood at four levels: international, regional, Eurasian, Russian world and Middle East. This development has also had a significant impact on redefining Iran's position. Therefore, Iran has gained special importance within the framework of concepts such as the global majority, the global south and the BRICS. The main argument is that how Iran's position has been understood in each of these four geopolitical situations of Russia has been determined based on the priorities of the Russia and due to developments in its regional and global policy.

Conclusion: Iran is a follower of Moscow, given its power in international equations, and the importance of this country cannot be imagined to be at the level or beyond its major global counterparts. Regarding Iran's position in the Eurasian region, it accords it a more or less equal position. In the Russky-Mir equations, Iran's role is of marginal importance, but in West Asia, considering the performance of Russia, Iran is important in balancing within the framework of the Russian geopolitical game. it is based on these geopolitical realities that one should neither go to extremes nor be too extreme in understanding the comprehensive agreement on twenty-year strategic cooperation between Iran and Russia in January 2025, and consider the realities of these relations based on the logic and priorities of Russia's geopolitical situation, because any document beyond the text of the agreement is formed on the basis and context of the geopolitical situation that is less likely to change in the course of daily developments.