• Research
  • Politika
  • About
Carnegie Russia Eurasia center logoCarnegie lettermark logo
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [],
  "type": "pressRelease",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "russia",
  "programs": [
    "Russia and Eurasia"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Iran",
    "Caucasus",
    "Russia"
  ],
  "topics": []
}
REQUIRED IMAGE

REQUIRED IMAGE

Press Release

Russia can help curb Iran’s growing nuclear ambitions

Although Iran and Russia have substantial economic and military ties, Moscow is increasingly wary of Tehran’s growing ambitions. In a new report, Dmitri Trenin and Alexey Malashenko offer a view from Moscow and detail how Iran’s desire to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles—while refusing to compromise with the international community—threaten Russia.

Link Copied
Published on Oct 26, 2010

WASHINGTON, October 26—Although Iran and Russia have substantial economic and military ties, Moscow is increasingly wary of Tehran’s growing ambitions. In a new report, Dmitri Trenin and Alexey Malashenko offer a view from Moscow and detail how Iran’s desire to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles—while refusing to compromise with the international community—threaten Russia.

Key Policy Recommendations:

  • Russia should lead. Using its business and security links with Tehran, Moscow can help lead international efforts to dissuade Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
  • Appeal to moderates. By working with moderate pragmatists in Tehran, Russia can encourage constructive dialogue with Iran and help spur a compromise with the West on the nuclear issue.
  • Avoid a military strike. A military attack against Iran would divide the international community, destabilize the Middle East, and virtually ensure that hardliners turn Iran into a nuclear weapons state.

"Moscow does not have enough sway to directly alter Tehran’s policies and it does not want to be an intermediary between Iran and the United States," the authors write. "But as Iran’s neighbor, economic and military partner, and as a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia can encourage moderate forces in Iran to compromise with the West on the nuclear issue instead of confronting Washington."

###

NOTES

Click here to read the full report.

Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, has been with the Center since its inception. He retired from the Russian Army in 1993. From 1993–1997, Trenin held posts as a senior research fellow at the NATO Defense College in Rome and a senior research fellow at the Institute of Europe in Moscow.

Alexey Malashenko is a scholar-in-residence and co-chair of the Religion, Society and Security Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. He is the author and editor of numerous books on Islam, Chechnya and other issues, including The Islamic Alternative and the Islamist Project (Carnegie Moscow Center, 2006), Russia and Islam (Carnegie Moscow Center, 2007), Ramzan Kadyrov: The Chechen Version of Russian Authoritarianism (Carnegie Moscow Center, 2009).

The Carnegie Moscow Center was established in 1993 and accommodates foreign and Russian researchers collaborating with Carnegie’s global network of scholars on a broad range of contemporary policy issues relevant to Russia—military, political, and economic.

Press Contact: Kendra Galante, 202-939-2289, pressoffice@ceip.org

IranCaucasusRussia

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Could Migrants From India and Africa Solve Russia’s Labor Shortage?

    The demands of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, demographic problems, and public hostility toward Central Asians mean Russia does not have enough workers.  

      Salavat Abylkalikov

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Russian Market Sours for Belarusian State Companies

    Minsk’s faith in the future of its larger neighbor’s economy is fading as Belarusian firms in Russia see record losses.    

      Olga Loiko

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Did Putin Return From China Empty-Handed?

    With no key agreement signed on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, there is a risk that the window of opportunity for Russia will close if Chinese power generation becomes so green that new gas sources are no longer of any interest to Beijing.

      • Alexander Gabuev

      Alexander Gabuev

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    What Does Central Europe’s Post-Orban Russia Policy Look Like?

    Though Orban is gone, Putin can still count on some like-minded individuals in Central and Eastern Europe. However, they will seek to avoid open confrontation with EU institutions over Ukraine and their ties with Moscow.


      Dimitar Bechev

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Are Russia-Japan Relations Really Warming Up?

    The truth is that Japan’s government is seeking a degree of reengagement but at a vastly reduced level than under Abe. Most significantly, Japan has shown no willingness to ease sanctions.

      James D.J. Brown

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Carnegie Russia Eurasia logo, white
  • Research
  • Politika
  • About
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • For Media
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.