The Russian-Iranian Partnership: Technology, Trade, and a Marriage of Convenience

After the 1979 Revolution, policymakers mainly focused on how the Us must deal with the loss of Iran. From a regional perspective, however, others asked how Iran would deal with the loss of American support and technology. One answer relates to shifting balance of political, economic, and technical refotions between Iran and the Russia. The growing strength of Tehran-Moscow ties coincided with the decreasing level of Us leverage in Iran. Are Iran-Russia relations tactical or strategic in nature? In other words, do the close Tehran-Moscow ties represent "a marriage of convenience" or a long-term structural shift in the regional balance of forces? The objective of this research is to examine the implications of Iranian-Russian technology trade and cooperation in the high-tech areas (of missile, satellite, and nuclear technologies). The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iri) aims to become completely independent of the influence of Great Powers in the domestic affairs of the country. Moreover, Tehran aims to be an undisputed regional power. Thus, mastery of high technology is seen as a key step toward these goals. Such Iri policy goals have coincided with Russians' aim to reclaim their role as a global power, which was diminished during the 1990s. The literature shows substantial cooperative relationships between Moscow and Tehran on technology trade and nuclear cooperation (especially about the Bushehr reactor). In comparison, much less attention is paid to Iranian missile and satellite programs (space program). However, Moscow has been of integral help in the development of such technologies in Iran. It assisted the Iri with the launch of a satellite and provided the basic technology on which Iranian long range Shahab-3 rocket family is based. A discussion of the Russian-Iranian technological cooperation for all three high-tech areas (of missiles, satellites, and nuclear technology) provides an important addition to the current literature. One major dimension of Russian-Iranian technological cooperation is its geopolitical implications. This research seeks to address many important questions such as: what are the reasons for Tehran and Moscow to cooperate? What does each side hope to gain from their partnership? What are the policy options of the Usa (and the West) in deterring Iranian challenges? Which options have (and have not) worked in dealing with Tehran? And finally, what are the geopolitical implications of the Tehran-Moscow ties?. Après l