The intensification of Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation during the years 2010 to 2022 has paved the way for the creation of new structural conditions in the international system and has affected the economic relations of the two countries. The main question of the research is how Western sanctions have affected the volume, structure, and nature of bilateral trade between Iran and Russia. Using the theoretical framework of neoclassical realism and economic diplomacy, the present study considers sanctions as structural pressures of the international system and examines how these pressures have shaped the economic behavior of the parties through the internal capacities and economic differences of the two countries. The research method is qualitative and descriptive-analytical, and the data has been collected from official sources of foreign trade, documents, and library resources. The findings show that although sanctions have temporarily increased trade volume and tactical convergence between Tehran and Moscow, the nature of tactical economic cooperation has remained short-term and unbalanced, the structure of goods has been more traditional and primary, and the trade balance has been in favor of Russia. Thus, sanctions have consolidated the pattern of asymmetric dependence and Russia's comparative advantage rather than causing structural rearrangement and real diversification in bilateral trade. The present study lies in providing a causal analysis of the relationship between international pressures and bilateral trade and contributes to a more accurate understanding of the capacities and limitations of economic cooperation between the two countries.