Iran: Russia Plays Big (Protective) Brother

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On Sunday, in an interview with CNN, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres assured him that Israel would not launch an attack on Iran. Describing, an attack as "the worst thing that can be imagined," he said, "When he visited me in Sochi, Israeli President Peres said something important for us all: 'Israel does not plan to launch any strikes on Iran, we are a peaceful country and we will not do this.'"

Asked about the possible delivery of advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, Medvedev said Russia had the right to sell defensive weapons to Iran. As for non-military measures, the Russian leader declared that sanctions are often ineffective and no action should be taken against Iran except as a last resort.

There will undoubtedly be much grumbling about Moscow's position and, conversely, some unsupported declarations that the Russians can be brought around to back stricter economic measure. The cold political reality is that, in this international conjunction of events, Russia sees its advantage in playing Tehran's "big brother". Strengthening the military relationship through the sales of S-300s and increasing its economical and political position with, Moscow hopes not only to consolidate its power in the Middle East but also to maintain leverage against Washington on issues such as the reduction of strategic offensive weapons and the deployment of missile defense system.