
Iran's Islamic World meets Russian one: Tehran’s vision echoes Moscow’s playbook
Iran occupies a special place in the Islamic world. After the Islamic Revolution of 1978, Iran became the world leader of Shiism, and not only a spiritual and ideological leader, but also a supplier of weapons and resources to Shiite parties and groups around the world
Tehran’s declared policy of exporting the Islamic Revolution across the Muslim world has deeply unsettled neighboring Muslim countries. The Ayatollah regime, through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has made no secret of directly investing in conflicts throughout the Middle East.
But under the banner of exporting revolution, Iran is doing two things: aggressively pushing proselytism — trying to convert Sunni Muslims to Shiism — and building a web of Iranian influence in every country it touches.
In essence, this resembles the ideological network of Russia’s so-called “Russkiy Mir” (Russian World) — but in the Iranian version. A sort of “Iranian World,” which its own adherents prefer to call the “Islamic World.”
I personally encountered this ideology back in the 2000s, as a student at an Islamic university. One of the instructors was a “cultural attaché” from the Iranian embassy, and instead of teaching us tafsir (Qur’anic interpretation), as scheduled, he spent every lecture trying to convince us that true Islam was Shiism, and we should become taqiyya-practicing “secret Shiites” to serve the Islamic Revolution. It was blatant ideological recruitment — an Iranian diplomat trying to radicalize future imams. My classmates and I endured the entire propaganda toolkit of the “Iranian World,” which eventually led me to write my dissertation, “Sharia in Sunni and Shiite Traditions: A Comparative Analysis.” It was a detailed deconstruction of Shiism — because, frankly, a year of that indoctrination gave me enough of a headache to turn it into research. I can call myself a Shiism expert — I’ve yet to meet another scholar in Ukraine with a dissertation on the topic.
Shiite Iran consistently invests in armed conflicts across the Middle East: Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, including direct deployment of Shiite militias in Syria’s civil war.
After Assad’s eventual collapse in Syria, Iran shifted its resources to the Houthis in Yemen, who took over this impoverished country. It’s no surprise that Iran has grown into a natural ally of Ukraine's sworn enemy — Russia. Their relationship traces back to the Yeltsin era, but under Putin, Iran has become a military ally and weapons supplier in the war against Ukraine.
It’s no secret that Iranians are participating in the war against Ukraine. Since 2023, Ukrainian signals intelligence has intercepted communications in Persian — likely from drone operators or trainers on the ground teaching Russians how to launch Shaheds. The drone itself — a cheap flying bomb optimized for terrorizing civilians and destroying infrastructure — is an Iranian invention.
Since the early 2000s, Iran has enjoyed open proselytizing privileges in Russia: promoting Shiism, building Shiite mosques (there are two in Moscow), and distributing Shiite literature in Russian. Even in business — in Muslim-majority republics like Dagestan — Iran is often granted preferential treatment.
There is no doubt that Russia will secretly support Iran in any future Middle East war. Moscow’s goal is to distract Western attention and resources from the summer offensive on Ukraine. Already, the United States has withheld air defense systems that were originally promised to protect Ukrainian skies.
Russia thrives on igniting wars around the globe — to make its invasion of Ukraine fade into the background and weaken international support for Ukraine.
By launching its war in February 2022, Russia opened the gates of hell. Instead of chewing on statements of “deep concern,” the world should have helped Ukraine decisively from the start. Now, everyone else will feel the consequences.
About the author: Said Ismagilov is the Mufti of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine "Umma," a religious and theological leader, and a serviceman in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial team.
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