Iran has been backstopped by the USSR and later Russia since very shortly after the Iranian Revolution concluded. There were good reasons for that (the government they rebelled against was US-friendly, and in fact essentially installed by the US during the Iranian coup back in 1953), but the fact remains that they’ve had significant geopolitical ties for a long time, both overt and covert.
Iran has been backstopped by the USSR and later Russia since very shortly after the Iranian Revolution concluded. There were good reasons for that (the government they rebelled against was US-friendly, and in fact essentially installed by the US during the Iranian coup back in 1953), but the fact remains that they’ve had significant geopolitical ties for a long time, both overt and covert.