Russia and Iran sign military deal Russia and Iran have signed a military cooperation deal recently. The Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu signed the military cooperation deal with Iran. Shoigu is the most senior Russian military official to visit Tehran since 2002.

The deal provides for joint exercises and military training, as well as “cooperation in peacekeeping, maintaining regional and international security and stability, and fighting against separatism and extremism,” the Iranian Defence Ministry website said.

Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan told state television that Iran and Russia had a “shared analysis of US global strategy, its interference in regional and international affairs and the need to cooperate in the struggle against the interference of foreign forces in the region.”

Russia has long been Iran’s principal foreign arms supplier but their ties took a major hit in 2010 when Moscow cancelled a contract to deliver advance S-300 ground to air missiles, citing UN sanctions imposed over Tehran’s nuclear programme. “The two countries have also decided to settle the S-300s problem,” the Iranian Defence Ministry said.