Russia and Iran Signal Deeper Cooperation on Disaster Management
Moscow says it is interested in learning from Iran’s wartime experience, while both sides discuss joint training, emergency response and a possible long-term cooperation agreement.
Russia and Iran are discussing expanded cooperation in disaster management after Russia’s emergency minister expressed interest in learning from Iran’s wartime experience. The countries discussed joint exercises, infrastructure protection, technical training and a possible long-term agreement, but the report confirms proposals and statements rather than completed arrangements.
Russia and Iran are seeking to expand cooperation in disaster management, with Russia’s emergency minister, General Alexander Kurenkov, expressing interest in sending a delegation to Tehran to study Iran’s experience protecting infrastructure and providing emergency services during wartime, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
Kurenkov made the remarks during a meeting in Astrakhan with Omid Mohtaram, a deputy head of Iran’s Crisis Management Organization. The Iranian delegation was visiting Russia for the Caspian-2026 international exercise, which brought together emergency-management officials from the five Caspian Sea countries: Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.
The discussions indicate that bilateral cooperation is being framed around both natural and human-caused hazards. Officials discussed aerial firefighting, satellite- and drone-based damage assessment, high-rise building safety, river dredging, emergency command centers, search and rescue, and joint operational planning.
Kurenkov also referred to Russia’s deployment of firefighting personnel to help address last year’s fire at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port. He described Russia as ready to respond rapidly to requests from Iran, while emphasizing the broader political relationship between the two countries and their cooperation through regional and international mechanisms, including the Caspian framework, the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS.
Iranian officials proposed developing a joint document setting out a long-term framework for cooperation across the disaster-management cycle. They also offered to share Iran’s experience in organizing public participation, volunteer groups and nongovernmental organizations during emergency response and reconstruction. Russia, for its part, said it was prepared to examine training opportunities for Iranian specialists and short-term professional courses.
The Caspian-2026 exercise featured simulated responses to vessel accidents, fires, fuel leaks, oil pollution, damaged oil infrastructure, forest fires, vehicle accidents, collapsed buildings and missing persons. The drills also included helicopter rescue operations in simulated rough-water conditions.
The reported initiative could improve practical coordination between the two countries in emergency response and critical-infrastructure protection. It also gives Moscow and Tehran another channel for institutional cooperation. However, the available report records officials’ statements and proposed areas of cooperation; it does not establish that a delegation, formal agreement or training program has yet been implemented.