The presidents of Russia and Iran have held talks in the Kremlin before the signing of a broad cooperation pact to deepen their partnership amid stinging Western sanctions.

The agreement is focused more on trade than military issues, but it will bring two countries with a shared desire to challenge the West closer together.

Iran has already supplied Russia with self-detonating "Shahed" drones that Moscow fires on Ukraine in nightly barrages, according to Ukrainian and Western officials. Sitting next to Putin in the Kremlin after signing the treaty, Pezeshkian called for a political settlement to end the nearly three-year conflict.