Just three days before US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, Russia and Iran have finally signed a “comprehensive partnership agreement,” a deal that had been in the works for months.

Russia welcomes any settlement that leads to security in Gaza after a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Iranian counterpart Friday for the signing of a broad pact between Moscow and Tehran. The Kremlin says the “comprehensive strategic partnership” agreement between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will take their cooperation to a new level.

The presidents of Russia and Iran have signed a broad cooperation pact to deepen their partnership amid stinging Western sanctions.

Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian, the Russian and Iranian presidents, announced closer ties between their nations at an event in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday signed a broad cooperation agreement strengthening the countries' ties as they grapple with stinging Western sanctions.

A strategic partnership treaty that Russia and Iran are poised to sign will govern the two countries' relations for the next two decades, the TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Iran's ambassador to Moscow.

Israel's actions in the wake of Syria's collapse give it unprecedented power in the air — right up to Iran's border.

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.

The new Iranian president met with Putin on Friday when the two countries signed a pact for a comprehensive strategic partnership.

In the session titled “ Original Sin: Israel, Palestine, and the Revenge of West Asia ”, journalist and author Stanly Johny and journalist Salil Tripathi discussed the immediate situation in West Asia, particularly Israel’s ceasefire with Gaza and its hostage release deal with the Hamas; and traced the history of the conflict.

As C.I.A. director, William J. Burns was deeply focused on China and Russia when the Middle East conflict plunged him back into his old life.