This paper is part of a wider project that explores how the Islamic Republic of Iran legitimises itself as a post-revolutionary government to both internal and external audiences. However, the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy is not only challenged by external actors and dynamics, but also internal revolutionary processes such as the Green Movement and the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement. The research question that the paper seeks to answer is how the Islamic Republic’s relationships with Russia and China relate to the way the Islamic Republic legitimises itself as a post-revolutionary state. In terms of methodology and theoretical framework, the paper builds on debates in neo-Gramscian IR and International Historical Sociology regarding revolution and the international, which highlight the importance of historical context and the interconnected nature of domestic/internal and international/external politics. The paper particularly draws on Fred Halliday’s work on the importance of the role that ideas of revolutionaries play in highlighting not only aspiration for domestic order, but also world order. The approach borrows from Antonio Gramsci’s notions of subalternity, hegemony, and domination and the Discourse Theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. The paper is primarily based on a discourse analysis of President Ebrahim Raisi’s speeches and texts. Raisi’s presidency is significant because it explicitly demonstrates a turn to ‘the East’ represented by Russia and China. This is not only for economic reasons in the contexts of sanctions, but also for political reasons because of Russia’s and China’s political standing in the international system. The paper’s contention is two-fold. First, it argues that an appreciation of both the external and internal contexts contribute to a better understanding of the power dynamics embedded in Islamic Republic’s relationship with Russia and China. The external context includes Donald Trump’s rescinding of the Iran nuclear deal and his close relationship with Benyamin Netanyahu on the one hand, and regional dynamics on the other hand. This involves the Islamic Republic’s policy of ‘Axis of Resistance’; an intensification of Saudi Arabia-Iran relations; and the deterioration of Israel-Iran relations. The internal context includes protests between 2017 and 2020 and the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. Second, it argues that the Islamic Republic’s eastern gaze is significant because it contributes to legitimising to the Islamic Republic in the international system. This is done by demonstrating a collective challenge to a liberal world order. This in turn legitimises the Islamic Republic’s ‘anti-imperialist’ narrative.