The conflict has driven them closer together in a way which could impact the world beyond Ukraine.
For years the headlines have covered the controversies over advanced Russian air defence systems heading to Iran. But now the arms traffic is very much in the other direction, writes Jonathan Marcus of the Strategy and Security Institute, University of Exeter.to terrorise Ukrainian civilians and to strike at the country's electricity generating and distribution system.
Transport flights have been monitored heading from Iran to Russia. Reports from US sources suggest that Iranian trainers from the IRGC - the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps - have deployed to a base in Crimea to teach Russian personnel how to operate the systems. These carry much larger warheads than the drones and Ukraine's anti-ballistic missile capability is limited. This could add a new level of complexity to Western efforts to bolster Ukraine's anti-air and anti-missile defences.But what of the wider ramifications of this deepening relationship between Moscow and Tehran?
Iran's security clamp-down at home has already drawn additional economic sanctions from the West. Now its weapons transfers to Russia are being seen by the United Kingdom and France as a breach of UN Security Council resolution 2231 that was passed in the wake of the 2015 nuclear deal. The Iran nuclear dossier is a looming shadow for the West as its focus is firmly fixed upon Ukraine. Russia - one of the key parties to the original deal - is hardly going to pressure its new arms supplier to give ground.Nonetheless, the relationship between Moscow and Tehran is driven by circumstance rather than any deep ideological bond.
But Russia, which still maintains a presence in Syria, has never been enthusiastic about Tehran's regional ambitions there. However it has not acted to contain Iranian influence in quite the way Israel would have wished. That said, it has done little to thwart Israeli air strikes aimed at reversing Iran's build-up in Syria.
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