A classified 2024-2026 Russian government roadmap, obtained by Fox News Digital, reveals a comprehensive strategy by Moscow to significantly expand its cooperation with Iran beyond traditional trade, aiming to forge robust alternative financial channels, advance nuclear energy collaboration, facilitate Iranian production of Russian aircraft components, develop major energy projects, and establish new transportation routes towards the Persian Gulf. This extensive plan, marked ‘For official use,’ assigns specific responsibilities to various ministries, agencies, and state companies with deadlines extending through 2026, and underscores a strategic effort to build an architecture designed to mitigate vulnerabilities created by mounting Western sanctions. Key initiatives include increasing trade in national currencies, exploring central bank digital currencies for cross-border settlements, and ensuring the use of independent financial messaging systems to bypass SWIFT and U.S. financial controls, with public reporting indicating significant progress in shifting bilateral settlements to national currencies and developing independent payment infrastructure. The roadmap also details continued Russian involvement in Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant through Rosatom, plans for Moscow to play a role in specific Iranian oil and gas fields like Shadegan and Kish, and an ambitious project for Russia to assist Iran in establishing the production of Russian aircraft parts, alongside efforts to strengthen physical transportation links like the Rasht-Astara railway and Iranian investment in Russian port infrastructure. Furthermore, the plan includes provisions for media content exchange, journalist training, and the securing of ICT contracts for Russian technology companies in Iran, all coordinated under Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, who is closely linked to Vladimir Putin’s family, highlighting the high political importance Moscow places on this deepening strategic partnership.
Adapted from: Latest World News on Fox News
