THE DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS AT THE CURRENT STAGE

Abstract

The article considers the issues of cooperation between Russia and Iran in the South Caucasus. Although the two countries have historically been rivals, have conducted wars for seeking regional influence, but current circumstances move them to cooperate with each other. Over the past decade the Russian-Iranian relations are precarious and based on strategic interests. The existence of such interests place confrontations in the background and focuses its attention on reaching the shared objectives, but in the future the increase of competitive element is foreseen, which is particularly shown up in regional competition for oil and gas market. As one of the most influential countries in the region Iran and Russia can ensure security of the South Caucasus and act as guarantors for the regional conflicts resolution.