More on Moscow and the Iran Crisis

Here's an interesting article on a proposed civilian nuclear energy agreement between the United States and Russia and the potential that it might encourage Russia to curtail nuclear cooperation with Iran.

I certainly applaud the concept. Approaching Russia as a potential partner is likely to get more results than lecturing them at the Security Council. And at this point the United States could use all the energy cooperation it can get, regardless of the Iran crisis.

However, I have to say I'm skeptical. Not because it's a bad idea, but because I'm not sure we're offering very much. As one source said:

"It would provide a foundation for greater (U.S.-Russia) cooperation but
doesn't commit the sides to any particular project and could be a way of
demonstrating to the Russians how much larger our market is than what exists
in Iran,"

Clearly, the United States is a much larger potential market for nuclear cooperation, but unless I missed something, my understanding is that public opinion and government regulations still make the United States a pretty unfriendly place for the nuclear power industry.

It's easy to scoff a these sorts of initiatives so I'm hesitant to just dismiss it. An agreement like this can have real benefits in the long run, but in this case I'm doubtful that long term potential benefits can compete with Russia's desire to maintain her influence in the Middle East.

Russia is certainly not above playing both sides of the street. This week Russia launched an Israeli spy satellite meant to monitor Iran's nuclear program. It's that willingness to play both sides that convinces me Russia's goal isn't to support Iran per se but rather to reestablish herself as a major diplomatic actor in the region. The undefined benefits of civilian nuclear cooperation with the United States are unlikely to change that.