Citing ever dubious "technical issues," Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko announced that work on the Bushehr nuclear plant in Southern Iran will not be completed this year as expected. This isn't the first time Russia has balked at finishing the Bushehr project. The date has been pushed back multiple times since the Russia officially agreed to begin work in 1995.

Analyzing the timing of events like this always has the quality of a tea leaf reading. With that in mind, the most obvious explanation is that the Russians are actually committed to working with the West to impede Iran's nuclear progress and are using Bushehr (which isn't directly involved in Iran's nuclear weapons program) to generate leverage.

Last year while interning for the Hudson Institute I wrote a piece on the history of contemporary Russian-Iranian relations. Anyone interested in  50 pages of background on Bushehr, Russian-Iranian arms trade, etc. can download the whole paper below.

-Evan