Russia's Friend – United State's Enemy: Russian Foreign Policy Toward Iran

Abstract

Both Russia and the US are interested in partnership, yet, they make different choices when it comes to their friends and enemies. Countries that the US considers as rogue or axis of evil are Russia's friends. This paper will focus on Russian foreign policy toward one of those states - Iran. One of the major concerns for Russian foreign policy since the disintegration of the USSR in 1991 has been the spread of terrorism from its Southern borders. Yet, Russia supplies nuclear technology to Iran, a country in its Southern backyard. The US has a major concern over Iran potentially becoming a nuclear power, and yet Russia continues supporting Iran's nuclear program despite the US objections. Why is Russia so much less fearful of nuclear Iran, the state that is much closer to it than the US which is separated from it by thousands of miles? Why Russian foreign policy toward Iran so different from that of the United State's? What does Russia have at stake in Iran? All of these questions will be addressed within the broader subject of cooperation. I will compare different treatment of cooperation by major schools of international relations and how it applies in the case of Russian foreign policy toward Iran. I will argue that constructivism offers an explanation of Russia's cooperation with Iran that encompasses both neorealist and neoliberal treatment of cooperation.