Russia’s dialogue with Iran has emerged as one of the most dynamic fronts of Moscow’s diplomacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Moscow twice this summer — first in June and then in July — to discuss the future of the nuclear deal, as well as the coordinated response to the American campaign to extend the UN arms embargo on Tehran.

Against this backdrop, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami's trip to the Army-2020 Military Forum taking place Aug. 23-29 is adding fuel to speculation about Moscow and Tehran ramping up military-technical cooperation once the Iran arms embargo expires Oct. 18. The American proposal to extend the restrictions was brought up in the UN Security Council but was rejected. Washington’s demand to use the so-called snapback mechanism to impose sanctions on Tehran also seems unlikely to yield results.  

Prior to Hatami’s visit, Tehran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, said military partnership between Russia and Iran is "growing by the day" and should soon break new ground. "We will soon open a new chapter in the Russia-Iran military-technical partnership,” Jalali wrote on his Telegram channel.

Following Hatami’s negotiations with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, the Iranian Embassy in Moscow spoke of the necessity to further strengthen their partnership “provided the depth of strategic understanding between the two countries in the region.” Such enthusiasm was not seen in the reports on the Russian media, however, which is usually upbeat on the prospects of the Russian-Iranian military partnership. The Iranian delegation’s presence at the forum did not receive much attention. The only highlights included footage of the Iranian delegation examining the S-400 and Pantsir-S1 air defense systems, a hint at possible new contracts on the delivery of those systems.