Vladimir M. Akhmedov, Alexander V. Abrosimov The Historical Legacy of Arab-Iranian Relations: Socio-Political Aspects

Abstract

The Iran–Israel war of 2025–2026 has altered the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East, highlighting the importance of Arab–Iranian relations for the development of contemporary Middle Eastern political processes. The relevance of the article lies in the fact that the historical legacy of Arab–Iranian relations has left an indelible mark on the development of contemporary Arab–Iranian ties. The historical features of the formation of Arab–Iranian relations continue to influence interaction between Iran and the Arab states. The events at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with Iran playing an active role, transformed the structure of international relations and international security in the Middle East. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that some earlier approaches and methods have not always provided an adequate explanation of the policies of Iran and the Arab states. Many assessments characterised by a high degree of generalisation have ceased to accurately reflect the actual state of affairs in the study of Arab–Iranian relations. The main aim of the article is to conduct an in-depth examination of the historical factors influencing Arab–Iranian relations in order to address existing gaps in previous research on the subject and provide a new perspective on the problems surrounding the formation of contemporary Arab–Iranian relations. The upper chronological limit of the study is the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which fundamentally transformed Iran and the nature of its policy towards the Arab world. The theoretical and methodological framework of the study is based on systemic principles, analysis and synthesis, and general historical methods, including the principle of historicism, the historical-systemic approach, the historical-comparative method and the method of periodisation. The article is particularly relevant given that Russia has consistently advocated the normalisation of Arab–Iranian relations as a condition for stabilising the political situation in the region. This provides a substantiated basis for viewing Moscow’s new role in the Middle East as a unique stabilising factor in key areas of military and energy security, as well as in the political and economic affairs of the region.

Keywords:

Arab countries; Iran; Russia; USA; Israel; Islamisation; Arabisation; nationalism; international relations; Middle East

For citation:

Vladimir M. Akhmedov, Alexander V. Abrosimov. The Historical Legacy of Arab–Iranian Relations: Socio-Political Aspects. The Historical Reporter. 2026. Vol. 60. P. 292–323. DOI: 10.35549/HR.2026.2026.60.011

Received 17.05.2026. Revised 25.06.2026. Accepted 27.07.2026.

Vladimir M. Akhmedov

Ph.D. (History), Senior Researcher at the Center for the Study of General Problems of the Contemporary East, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russian Federation.

E-mail: shamyarabist@gmail.com

SPIN-code: 2570-6004

AuthorID: 681793

ORCID: 0000-0002-4952-2964

Alexander V. Abrosimov

Postgraduate student at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Research Laboratory Assistant at the Center for the Study of the Near and Middle East, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russian Federation.

e-mail: mostaady@mail.ru

SPIN-code: 3508-1855

AuthorID: 1279309

ORCID: 0009-0006-7732-4849

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