Russia and Iran plan to sign a new 20-year treaty, and it is missing a key element in its territorial integrity clause: Crimea.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Moscow on January 17 to sign a strategic partnership treaty that has been years in the making. The long-awaited cooperation agreement will govern relations between the two countries for the next 20 years, Iran's ambassador to Moscow has said.

While the deal has been drafted with the stated goal of reshaping the trajectory of bilateral ties, questions remain over its regional implications, fueled by concerns in Iran over national interests being compromised.

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart President Masoud Pezeshkian this week for the signing of a broad partnership pact between Moscow and Tehran

Russia is poised to sign a “comprehensive strategy partnership” with Iran in a further strengthening of an authoritarian axis of evil.