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; dedollarization of trade; emerging International Division of Labour.