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

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.

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran on Friday that follows similar pacts with China and North Korea. All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine.

Six Russian oil tankers still under construction by Russia's Zvezda shipyard were included in U.S. sanctions imposed last week, the first time Washington is known to have banned tankers before they even set sail,

The most aggressive Western sanctions imposed on Russia’s oil sector since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine threaten to disrupt global supply as buyers — led by China and India — scour the Middle East for alternative suppliers.