MOSCOW – On October 11th, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Their meeting took place on the sidelines of the "Interrelation of Times and Civilizations—the Basis of Peace and Development" forum, held in honor of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Turkmen poet and philosopher Makhtumkuli Fragi.

The meeting in Ashgabat came as a surprise, as a meeting between the Russian and Iranian presidents had already been planned for October 22-24 in Kazan, within the framework of the BRICS summit.

This means that something forced and made the leaders of the two countries hurry up with their acquaintance. And this "something", apparently, was the ultimate tension between Iran and Israel, ready to break into a big Middle East war.

Without going into much detail, it should be noted that after the Iranian missile attack against Israel on October 1, the world froze in anticipation of an Israeli response, which will undoubtedly take place. The only question is what it will be: either a 'demonstration', as in April, or "deadly", as declared by the Israeli generals. The future development of events in the Middle East largely depends on this – either a gradual detente or a war.

In this dramatic situation, Iran needs to know how Russia, one of the main non–regional actors in the Middle East, will react to one or another development of events. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that it was the Iranian leadership that took the initiative to organize an urgent meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Pezeshkian in Ashgabat. It seems that this was the right step. In the current difficult geopolitical conditions, when only one day (or night) can radically change the situation not only in the Middle East region but also in the world, a timely personal acquaintance of the leaders of the two most important countries is simply necessary.

"I am very glad, dear Mr. President, that I have the opportunity to meet you personally and discuss our current issues," President Putin said at his first meeting with President Pezeshkian.

The communication between the Russian and Iranian presidents began with the participation of delegations. Then the meeting continued face-to-face. Of course, there is no detailed information about what the presidents talked about. Officially, it was stated that the issues of the situation in the Middle East and bilateral relations were considered.

Based on this very generalized announced agenda, an understanding of the role and place of the Russian Federation and Iran in the current military and political processes in the Middle East, and the specifics of bilateral relations, it can be stated that there is no absolute unity of views between Moscow and Tehran. In principle, this is natural for large ambitious powers that have and defend their interests in the world, the region, and in bilateral relations.

During his conversation with Masoud Pezeshkian, Vladimir Putin stated, "We are actively collaborating on the international stage, and our views on global events often align." While it's true that Russia and Iran are currently presenting a united front against the West, striving for a new, just, and equitable world order, Putin's use of the word "often" hints at a nuanced reality. It suggests that while their positions often coincide, there may be instances where their perspectives diverge.

In fact, Russia and Iran have somewhat different nuances in their approaches. For example, they differ in their perspectives on the South Caucasus, security in the Persian Gulf (given Russia's relationship with Arab states), the future of Syria, and, what’s extremely important for Iran today, Israel.

Western political scientists and journalists call Vladimir Putin Russia's most pro-Israeli leader, though and albeit in the past. And this is understandable, there are 1.6 million Russian–speaking residents in Israel (20% of Israel’s population) - immigrants from the USSR and the Russian Federation, who have made and are making a significant Russian cultural contribution to Israeli society. Relations between the two countries developed in a businesslike and stable manner after the collapse of the USSR. Israel has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow and has introduced a visa-free regime for Russian citizens. Until recently, Putin and Netanyahu had good personal relations. Everything was changed by the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the harsh responses of Tel Aviv. In fact, it was the beginning of a new Middle East war.

Moscow, having condemned Hamas for the terrorist act, at the same time sharply criticized Israel's actions in Gaza and then in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, which, of course, led to a cooling of Russian-Israeli relations. However, it makes no sense to expect Russia to agree to the demands of the Iranian-led "Axis of Resistance" to destroy Israel.

At the Ashgabat meeting with Vladimir Putin, President Pezeshkian asked Russia to act "more effectively against the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza and Lebanon," which indicates that Moscow's reaction is not adequate enough, in Tehran's opinion. Iran would like to gain more support from Russia in its active policy in the region.

But, perhaps, today it is not necessary to talk about a tougher approach of the Russian Federation to Israel's actions. Russia is not ready to get involved in a military confrontation in the Middle East, fraught with the participation and involvement of the United States, seeks to distance itself from a large-scale conflict and may limit itself to moral, diplomatic, propaganda support for Iran and, possibly, some supplies of defensive weapons.

On the other hand, Iran also does not want to go deeper into the escalation, which is ready to intensify at any hour. Here, despite, of course, the dissimilar reasons for the rejection of a major war, and some different views and approaches to stabilizing the situation in the region, it is advisable to try to form a common course aimed at eliminating this extremely dangerous armed conflict.

As already noted, at the meeting in Ashgabat, President Putin, and President Pezeshkian discussed bilateral relations.

Vladimir Putin stated: "Relations with Iran are a priority for us, and they are developing very successfully. This year we are seeing an increase in trade turnover. True, he did not play back a certain drop last year, but the trend is good."

In turn, Masoud Pezeshkian said: "Economically and culturally, our ties are strengthening day by day and becoming more reliable…. The growing trend of cooperation between Iran and Russia, given the will of the top leaders of both countries, should be accelerated to strengthen these ties."

After returning to Iran, the Iranian President noted that "constructive consultations were held at the meeting with the Russian President on agreements and contracts between the two countries in the field of gas, automobile, railway, energy and petrochemical cooperation. It was decided to accelerate the implementation of the agreements."

Indeed, Moscow and Tehran are going to work hard to deepen cooperation. The level of interaction between two such large and developed countries, and neighboring ones, is clearly not sufficient.

As Vladimir Putin said, last year there was a decline in trade turnover between the two countries. In 2023, it amounted to $4 billion (for example, the trade turnover between Russia and Turkey also decreased in 2023, but to $57 billion).

According to many economists, some factors hinder the proper development of Russian-Iranian economic ties. Thus: in both economies, the role of state corporations and large capital, closely interconnected with the bureaucratic apparatus, is great; the structure of exports of Russia and Iran is such that consumer demand for each other's goods is extremely insignificant (in 2023, agricultural products accounted for 81.1% of all Russian exports to Iran and 57.8% of imports, which indicates a limited range of another products); transport costs are overestimated due to the lack of modern logistics and transportation agreements; doing business in both countries is greatly hampered by bureaucratic obstacles, as well as a vague idea among entrepreneurs of the two countries about the specifics of business practices in the partner country and so on...

An important negative factor in the development of bilateral relations is the negative attitude of many representatives of the Iranian elite towards cooperation with Russia, both in government structures and among political scientists, journalists, and representatives of science and culture. This "phantom" critical view of Russia is based on complex, sometimes ambiguous periods in the history of relations between Russia and Iran, starting from the Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) treaties; the agreement (1907) on the division of spheres of influence in Persia between Russia and Great Britain; the occupation, as they say in Iran, of this country in 1941 by Soviet and British troops during WW II, till Russia's support for anti-Iranian sanctions in the UN Security Council (2006-2010), the episode of the S-300 air defense system to the present day.

Undoubtedly, such distrust does not favor the development of relations at various levels between Iran and the Russian Federation, even when the objectively global political situation requires close cooperation.

Because of this, it seems simply necessary, without postponing for the future, to abstract from difficult periods of history, to remove or mitigate all obstacles to the sustainable and positive development of Russian-Iranian bilateral relations in the interests of not only Moscow and Tehran but also the entire Middle East. Moreover, as President Putin said, "In recent years, friendly Russian-Iranian relations have gained additional momentum," and this dynamic should be taken advantage of.

There are hopes for this. The first meeting in Ashgabat was important for the beginning of personal contact between the two leaders, as well as the "synchronized watches" for future work. And these contacts will develop and expand. At this meeting, President Pezeshkian accepted President Putin's invitation to pay an official visit to Russia. The Iranian President did this with gratitude and said that he would definitely take advantage of the invitation. At the same time, we must not forget that a summit of the heads of the BRICS member states will be held in a few days, where the two Presidents are also scheduled to meet. Moreover, it is expected in the near future to sign a comprehensive strategic agreement between Russia and Iran, defining bilateral relations for 25 years.

In light of these upcoming events, the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian was of particular importance.

*The author of this article insists that in it he expressed his own views, which, of course, may not coincide with the opinions of colleagues, both in Russia and in Iran. In addition, the author believes that the meeting and conversation between the Presidents of Russia and Iran in the current difficult, crisis conditions, not only in the region but also on a global scale, gives reason even to touch upon the problems of Russian-Iranian bilateral relations briefly.

**The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Tehran Time’s stance.

By Vladimir Sazhin is Senior Researcher Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences