A confidential Russian government document outlines a wide-ranging strategy for deepening ties and cooperation with Iran, including alternative payment systems, nuclear energy, aircraft-parts manufacturing, energy projects, and new transport links toward the Persian Gulf.
The plan, reviewed by Fox News Digital, for the 2024-2026 timeframe was approved on September 2, 2024, and assigns specific ministries and state companies to projects with set deadlines. The 44-page Russian-language document, titled “Plan for Cooperation Between the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran for 2024-2026,” is marked “For official use”.
Seeking financial independence from the West
The plan pushes for greater use of national currencies in trade and aims to raise their share of bilateral transactions from 68% to 71% by 2026, along with the development of central bank digital currencies for cross-border payments and independent channels for financial messaging outside systems like SWIFT. Analyst Keti Korkiya of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies analysed the Russian document for Fox News Digital and pointed out that the individual measures in the plan are less consequential than the overall architecture Moscow is building to preclude the impact of sanctions.
The plan was drafted and approved after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and before the Iran War. Some of the measures mentioned in the plan have already been acknowledged publicly. Like, Russian officials said in February 2025 that bilateral settlements had largely shifted to national currencies using proprietary messaging systems, with Iran’s ambassador to Moscow adding that the countries no longer needed SWIFT.
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A US official said Washington continues monitoring of any alternative payment mechanisms and insisted they cannot match the reach of the dollar-based financial system.
Nuclear cooperation at Bushehr
Russia’s Rosatom continues to shoulder the responsibility for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant, supporting Unit 1 and continuing construction on Units 2 and 3. Rosatom confirmed in September 2026that additional Russian specialists were expected to arrivefor maintenance and fuel work.
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Energy projects and confidential financing
The roadmap names Iranian oil and gas fields at Shadegan, Kish, and North Pars for Russian involvement, though funding sources for several projects are marked “Confidential”.
News reports in February 2026 had confirmed that Russian state firm ZN-Vostok was developing Shadegan.
Aviation manufacturing efforts
Significantly, the plan seeks to start Iranian production of Russian aircraft components, with certification and localisation deadlines set through 2026. Things seem to have progressed on this front as well as Iranian firms were cleared to service Russian aircraft in early 2025.
Focus on new transport corridors
The document also envisions a Russian-gauge railway toward Iranian Gulf ports in the Persian Gulf and progress on the Rasht-Astara rail link, part of the International North-South Transport Corridor.
In the latter project, engineering surveys began in May 2025.Moscow also sought to advance the Rasht-Astara railway, a roughly 162 km missing link in the International North-South Transport Corridor.
Putin’s personal touch in the partnership
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, who leads the bilateral commission overseeing this cooperation, is married to Deputy Defence Minister Anna Tsivileva, daughter of Putin’s late cousin, revealing a family connection that one European intelligence source called evidence of how highly Moscow prioritizes the relationship.
Russian and Iranian officials did not respond to Fox News Digital requests for comment.
