The agreement is focused more on trade than military issues, but it will bring two countries with a shared desire to challenge the West closer together.

Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact Friday as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging Western sanctions.

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran on Friday that follows similar pacts with China and North Korea. All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine.

The presidents of Russia and Iran have held talks in the Kremlin on Friday before the signing of a broad cooperation pact between the two countries