Ukraine war strengthens ties between Russia and Iran

Russian president Vladimir Putin takes part in the ceremony of signing an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway via a video link together with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 17th. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images The war in Ukraine is consolidating the unorthodox political, military and economic alliance of convenience between Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is difficult to imagine more dissimilar populations, and neither country's citizens are clamouring for closer relations. They have in common repressive systems of government, pariah status and the need to circumvent sanctions…