On Tuesday, Iran announced that it was in talks with Russia “about economic cooperation in energy, which could undercut the sanctions”. South Africa, which had been observing the sanctions regime, also said it was prepared to resume importing Iranian oil in three months time.

The economic cooperation being discussed is within the context of a $20 billion deal the two nations signed last month, as The New York Times reports:

Last month, Russia and Iran signed a memorandum in which Russia would buy Iranian crude oil and Iran would purchase energy equipment, machinery and food, a deal that American officials have warned would be a sanctions violation.

On Tuesday, Ali Majedi, Iran’s deputy oil minister, was quoted by state news media as reiterating that Iran and Russia would “develop cooperation” in energy and petrochemicals industries.

In explaining the growing ties between Russian and Iran, the Times also observed that as the nuclear negotiations progressed, the West’s economic leverage against Iran has lessened:

But some experts who have followed the negotiations say Mr. Khamenei, who deeply mistrusts the United States and has the final word on any deal, now believes Iran can withstand the economic consequences of any new sanctions should diplomacy fail.

Following the announcement of the Joint Plan of Action (JPA) between Iran and the P5+1 last November, The Tower quoted Patrick Clawson and Mehdi Khalaji of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy expressing concern that “Khamenei has been laying the groundwork to walk away from any deal by warning that the West is untrustworthy and will not deliver on its promises — the same reasons he gave for walking away from the earlier nuclear deals.”

Already in January of this year, Russia was “scrambling to secure access to Iran’s energy resources.”

The first six month term of the JPA ended in July without a deal, and was consequently extended for another four months. Under the terms of the extension, Japan freed up $1 billion in Iranian assets. Earlier this week, it was reported that Germany and the Czech Republic were expanding their business ties with Iran. In spite of the growing international economic cooperation with Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported last week that Iran obstructed the agency’s probe into its nuclear program.

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