Together we stand: challenging the effects of international sanctions on Iran–Russia regional cooperation, 2007–2024

This article examines the evolving Iran–Russia strategic partnership within the context of prolonged sanctions, shifting regional power dynamics, and the decline of US-led unipolarity. It argues that shared pariah status and opposition to Western hegemony have fostered a pragmatic alliance spanning political, military, and economic domains, while sanctions have reshaped regional alignments and encouraged alternative connectivity initiatives such as the International North–South Transport Corridor. The study highlights a paradox: under normal market conditions, convergence between Iran and Russia would be unlikely given structural competition in energy exports and limited trade complementarities. Liberal theories of comparative advantage and interdependence predict little incentive for cooperation. Yet sanctions and international isolation created conditions in which alignment became not only possible but necessary. From 2007 to 2024, sanctions transformed a relationship marked by mistrust and asymmetry into a functional axis of resistance, challenging both the effectiveness of sanctions and the assumptions of liberal economic theory.