ABSTRACT
The terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 had a major impact on US-Russian relations. After a period of strain during the initial months of the new Bush Administration, the attack on 9/11 which made the US and Russia partners in the war against terrorism, considerably improved relations between Washington and Moscow. The rapid development of Russian-Iranian relations under Yeltsin had its origins in the latter part of the Gorbachev era. After alternately supporting first Iran and then Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, by the end of the war Gorbachev had clearly tilted toward Iran. In Afghanistan, Russia and Iran stood together against Taliban efforts to seize control over the entire country. In Azerbaijan, neither Iran, with a sizeable Azeri population of its own, nor Russia under Yeltsin wished to see the Transcaucasian country emerge as a significant economic and military power.
