Iran and Russia are forging tighter ties than ever, as their international isolation drives the two staunch American foes toward more trade and military cooperation, alarming Washington, columnist Benoit Faucon wrote in his column for The Wall Street Journal. 

“In July, Iran became the world’s largest buyer of Russian wheat. This month, Russia launched an Iranian satellite into space in a rare success for Tehran’s space program. And last week, Iran’s military hosted joint drone exercises with Russian forces, as the US warns Moscow is preparing to receive Iranian drones for use in the war in Ukraine,” Faucon adds. 

"The two states share an opposition to a U.S.-led world order and both suffer from tough U.S. sanctions. But until this year, their relations had been weighed down by opposing agendas in Syria, by Iran’s historic suspicion of foreign interference and by Russia’s historical role as the dominant power in Central Asia and the Caucasus," Faucon writes.
He believes, "A closer Russia-Iran alliance would help both countries mitigate the impact of Western sanctions by finding new markets for their products and boosting military cooperation."

At the same time, according to the article "Overall, bilateral trade is up 10% between Russia and Iran this year. In 2021, trade between the two countries surged 80% higher to $4 billion, according to Russia."