The article examines the evolution of Soviet-Iranian relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Following the transformation of the foreign policy of the USSR and Iran in the framework of bilateral relations, the author comes to the conclusion that the Soviet Union used Iran's desire to gain the status of a regional leader, and Iran was interested in cooperation with the USSR, which could create a counterbalance to the American presence in the strategically important Persian Gulf region. Key words: Iran, foreign policy of the USSR, Islamic Revolution, Afghan war, Middle East policy. In the strategically important Persian Gulf, the interests of a number of the world's leading states intersect. The geopolitical situation in the region was largely influenced by the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the emergence of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The ideology of the clerics who came to power contributed not only to the internal consolidation of the Iranian people, but also to the emergence of levers of possible Iranian pressure on the USSR and the United States. In response to Tehran's regional ambitions, the United States resorted to a policy of ultimatums and economic dictatorship, which the USSR used to establish Soviet-Iranian relations. When conducting contacts with Iran, the Russian Federation adheres to the basic principles formed by the leadership of the Soviet Union in the period after the Islamic Revolution. When writing the article, three groups of sources were used. The first category includes documents from the collections of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (AWPRF) and the Russian State Archive of Modern History (RGANI), some of which are being put into scientific circulation for the first time. Valuable information about the nature of Soviet-Iranian relations and the evolution of the Iranian foreign policy doctrine is kept in the AVPRF "Embassy of the USSR in Iran" fund. It is possible to trace the relationship between the Afghan W ... Читать далее