Russian Foreign Policy: Understanding Russian-Iranian Relations Since 2008

摘要

Iran and Russia have a subtle relationship. The two nations originally shared a common goal of "limiting American influence." That bonded them, with Russia providing weapon sales, nuclear training, and peacefully sharing a common resource with Iran. Sanctions placed on the Islamic Republic of Iran by the United Nations however, have brought the Russian Federation to reevaluate their relationship with Iran and impose limits, even delaying weapons delivery to Iran in some cases. This paper will analyze and distinguish Russia's position on Iran specifically since 2008. It will describe the teetering relationship up until now, where the Russian Federation is endorsing Iran for being able to bring possible solutions to the civil war in Syria. This paper will attempt to uncover the reason for the unstable relationship, and its correlation to the relationship between Russia, the United States and other Western countries. The trends of the relationship will be looked and the future implications of the unsure relationship will be considered.