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Russia’s apparent hardening of stand on Iran has been widely interpreted as a “reward” for United States President Barack Obama scrapping missile shield plans for Eastern Europe. Moscow, however, is abuzz with speculation of a wider chess game being played targeting the nuclear programme of not only Iran but also Israel.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week hinted that Moscow could go along with the new U.S.-lobbied United Nations sanctions on Iran’s nuclear programme. “As to all sorts of sanctions, Russia’s position is very simple, and I stated it recently. Sanctions rarely lead to productive results, but in some cases sanctions are inevitable. Ultimately, it is a matter of choice,” Mr. Medvedev said after his meeting with Mr....