The article surveys the status of Russian-Iranian economic relations in the context of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and Central Asia. Russia accelerated its “shift to the East” back in 2022, having become an almost irreplaceable supplier of energy resources and certain technologies to Asian countries over the past two and a half years. Russia has remained in the top-five largest trading partners of Iran, who sees the potential for a tenfold increase in bilateral trade with Russia going forward. Currently, trade between Iran and Russia is significantly limited by the lack of the banking channels and payment systems. Measures to de-dollarize the bilateral trade resulted into the ruble-to-riyal exchange mechanism settlement in 2022, while the Russian payment system might be integrated with the Iranian one by spring 2025. The article notes that joint investment projects in such countries as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and China, imply a great unlocking potential both for Russia and Iran. According to the author, the countries processing resources (including human ones, land, fuel, electricity) and the base for developing relevant technologies would become the key beneficiaries of the emerging new International Division of Labour (IDL) being formed by the Global South. The author concludes that cooperation with such a long-standing partner as Iran would allow Russia and Iran to lead the reformatting of the global energy balance, to promote the sustainability of regional energy security, to develop new technologies more effectively, to lead the reforming IDL.
Russian-Iranian projects; energy and logistics of Iran and Russia; de-dollarization of trade; emerging International Division of Labour.