Аннотация:During the year 2004, Russia steadily boosterd its presence in the Gulf region. In brief, it can be stated 2004 was the year of "Russia's return to Iraq" following the end of the warfare there and the start of the normalization process and the year of further strengthening economic ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as with some other countries in the region. As such, it can be argued that the year witnesses the rather succesful implementation of Moscow's strategy towards the Gulf region, which is officially described as aiming "to raise the level of economic cooperation with local actors and to promote a political dialogue between Russia and GCC states".