The U.S. and Russia Want to Reconcile at Iran’s Expense

Russia will significantly cool off Iran’s nuclear zeal if it makes a deal with the U.S.

With Barack Obama’s arrival at the White House, the U.S. is looking for new ways to solve disagreements with Russia – its most important foreign opponent and a partner at the same time. Trouble in Washington and Moscow’s relationship was primarily caused by the Americans’ overwhelming desire to deploy a missile defense system on Europe’s eastern frontier. According to the Pentagon, the goal of the system is to curb the over-ambitious Iran. Meanwhile, even the theoretical proximity of the U.S. strategic weapons to the Russian border has already made the relations between the two countries too strained.

Now, it seems, they have found a compromise. In a mutually beneficial deal, the U.S. and Russia will use Iran as a bargaining chip: Moscow will side with the U.S. during its nuclear program negotiations with Tehran, and in turn, the American administration will forget about the missile defense system in Eastern Europe. Simply put, solving the Iranian problem will completely eliminate the reason for deploying missile defense systems in the Czech Republic and Poland. According to several Russian media sources, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev received a message along these lines from Barack Obama.

This isn’t the first time that this type of deal has seemed probable. New details will become available as we approach April 2nd, when Obama and Medvedev will meet in person during the G20 summit in London. While speaking with the Spanish media the day before his visit to Madrid, Medvedev said that he is looking forward to meeting with Obama in London and that the issue of missile defense in Europe would be a priority. The President of Russia is also happy that the new American administration is moving away from the “simple stance” held by the previous administration and that “[it] will approach that issue in a more inventive and partnership-like manner.”

The U.S. and Russia have gotten so involved with their important roles in the Iranian issue that they have completely forgotten about Iran. In the meantime, judging by certain statements and actions of the Iranian leaders, Tehran’s nuclear program cannot be stopped. On February 25th, the test launch of the first stage nuclear power plant in Bushehr was successful. Even though it used lead instead of enriched uranium, if the remaining tests are successful, uranium will replace lead. Tehran continues to assure that its nuclear program is peaceful and that Iran will becomes a country with nuclear technology regardless of what the West wants.

Note that Russia has supplied 87 tons of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, and Sergey Kiriyenko, the head of Rosatom (the state nuclear energy corporation), attended the power plant’s grand opening. If Russia sides with the U.S., Iran will face a tough raw materials issue. Consequently, the Islamic republic’s nuclear dream will either evaporate or be significantly postponed.