The two countries have a growing military relationship that has occurred against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Friday’s meeting comes as Iran is anticipating an Israeli attack in response to Tehran’s significant missile barrage targeting Israel last week.

Tehran provided hundreds of drones to Russia for its use in Ukraine and built a facility in Russia to produce more of them, and international leaders have warned Iran against providing Russia with ballistic missiles.

“Collectively, Iran, Russia, and China are strengthening their relationships and fostering a chaotic landscape favorable to their exploitation,” Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, told U.S. lawmakers in March, later adding, “The ramifications of this partnership will have global implications.”

MI5 Director General Ken McCallum recently elaborated on the threats the Russian-Iranian alliance poses abroad. This week, he said the United Kingdom is facing a “staggering rise” in assassination or sabotage attempts by Russia and Iran. His agency and police have prevented 20 “potentially lethal” Iranian plots since 2022 and warned that it could increase.

McCallum said there is the risk “of an increase in or broadening of Iranian state aggression in the U.K.”

At Friday’s meeting, Putin said the two allies often view international conflicts similarly.

“We are actively working together on the international arena and our assessments of current events in the world are often very close,” the Russian leader said at the meeting with Pezeshkian, according to Russian state media outlet Tass.

The comment comes as Iran awaits Israel’s military response to last week’s barrage of roughly 180 ballistic missiles. It is unclear how Israel will respond, though U.S. President Joe Biden denounced possible strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Tehran rarely attacks Israel directly — it did so in response to Israel’s killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and the escalation of Israel’s attacks on Iran’s top proxy in the region. Israel’s impending response could incur another Iranian retaliation.

“I would like to say to Israel: Stop,” the Iranian leader said. “Stop killing innocent people, stop bombing civilian homes, people who already have nothing. Israel has violated all conceivable and inconceivable international agreements. It has been doing this because it knows that the United States and the European Union are backing it.”

The Russian president also invited Pezeshkian to attend the upcoming BRICS summit, which will take place later this month in Russia, where they plan to hold a bilateral meeting. Pezeshkian said he hopes the two sides can “finalize” a “strategic partnership agreement” during the BRICS meeting, according to the Iranian Tasnim News Agency.

Pezeshkian won Iran’s election in July following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.