In February, the Obama administration sent a secret letter to Moscow in which it reportedly offered up its predecessor's plans for missile defenses in Europe in exchange for a more constructive Russian role on dealing with Iran's nuclear program. The Kremlin happily pocketed that proposal, but made no firm commitments as to its cooperation in squeezing Tehran. So what does Russia really think of Iran and its nuclear ambitions?
In Washington, conventional wisdom has long held that the partnership between Russia and Iran is strong - and getting stronger. There's good reason for this assumption. Moscow has been a key strategic ally and atomic enabler of the Islamic Republic for years, and the fruits of that collaboration are by now painfully obvious. If all goes as planned, Iranian officials say, the Russian-built plutonium reactor in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr will come online sometime later this year. Once it does, they have made no secret of the fact that they hope to engage Russia in the construction of several additional nuclear facilities.
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