Explain the meaning of “いくら...とはいえ”

Question

I encounter “いくら” in combination with “とはいえ” so often that I'm fairly certain these have some kind of fixed meaning together but I can find very little about it on the internet and all I can find is in Japanese which explains the literal grammatical but since it's intended for Japanese people it doesn't really explain the nuance well.

At least, I personally would interpret segment as such as “いくら友人だとはいえ” as “Though you may very well be my friend, ” or “No matter how much you are my friend,” or something similar but I'm not sure how correct my understanding is.

Answer 1

Your understanding is correct.

From 大辞泉:

［副］（あとに「ても」「でも」を伴うことが多い）量や程度のはなはだしいさま。どれほど。どんなに。「―捜しても見つからない」「―子供でもわかるだろう」

So No matter how much you are my friend should be a literal enough translation.

For the particular case, いくら友人だとはいえ is essentially synonymous with 友人だとはいえ, possibly with more emphasis.