Carol Saivetz | The National Interest
June 30, 2025
“Despite fiery rhetoric, Russia has offered Iran no real support after US strikes, revealing Moscow’s weakened position, competing interests, and reluctance to jeopardize ties with Israel, the Gulf, or Trump.”
-SSP’s Carol Saivetz
Within hours of the US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, former Russian President and current Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council blasted the US action and threatened to help Iran. He said, “Not only would the strike strengthen the Islamist regime, but a number of countries are ready to supply nuclear warheads to Iran.”
The reality, however, is quite different: The Kremlin is unwilling to take action beyond words in Iran’s defense. It would seem that Moscow’s position in the Middle East is severely weakened by the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria and by its central focus on the war in Ukraine.
Russia and Iran Have a Close Relationship
The Kremlin has always aspired to a leading role in the Middle East. During Soviet times, it hoped for neither war nor peace. The instability facilitated its prominent position as an arms supplier and possible mediator. From a weakened position after the Soviet collapse, it regained some relevance and stature when it intervened in Syria in 2015 to save then-President Bashar al-Assad from the Arab Spring. More recently, it has enjoyed some success by establishing good working relationships with the Gulf states and by trying to mediate, along with Iran and Turkey, a solution to the then 9-year civil war in Syria.
All that changed with the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Before the onset of the Israeli attacks on Iran on June 13, 2025, all that Russia had left was its relationship with Tehran. Russia has invested in multiple projects in Iran, including those related to oil and natural gas infrastructure. And Iran, as a Russian client, not only provided Moscow with a toehold in the region, but also, perhaps most importantly, began supplying missiles and drones to be used in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Iran has also transferred drone technology to Russia, which has allowed Russia to develop its versions of the Shahid 163s. In January 2025, Moscow and Tehran signed a strategic partnership agreement, which included military cooperation but most notably did not include a mutual defense clause.
Why Is Russia Not Helping Iran Against Israel?
Nonetheless, neither the Russians nor the Iranians fully trusted each other. Despite repeated requests from the regime in Tehran, Russia has thus far refused to transfer SU-35 aircraft and S-400 air defense systems. Furthermore, as some analysts have noted, Iran was never willing to supply troops to the Ukraine war effort the way North Korea did.