Very interesting read.

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - Vladimir Putin issued a veiled warning Tuesday against any attack on Iran as he made the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Tehran in six decades — a mission reflecting Russian-Iranian efforts to curb U.S. influence.

He also suggested Moscow and Tehran should have a veto on Western plans for new pipelines to carry oil and natural gas from the Caspian Sea, using routes that would bypass Russian soil and break the Kremlin's monopoly on energy deliveries from the region.
Putin came to Tehran for a summit of the five nations bordering the Caspian, but his visit was aimed more at strengthening efforts to blunt U.S. economic and military ties in the area. Yet he also refused to set a date for completing Iran's first nuclear reactor, trying to avoid an outright show of support for Iran's defiance over its nuclear program.
Putin strongly warned outside powers against use of force in the region, a clear reference to the United States, which many in Iran fear will attack over the West's su****ions that the Iranians are secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made similar comments.
"We are saying that no (Caspian) nations should offer their territory to outside powers for aggression or any military action against any of the Caspian states," Putin said.
The five national leaders at the summit later signed a declaration that included a similar statement — an apparent reflection of Iranian fears that the United States could use Azerbaijan's territory as a staging ground for military strikes in Iran.
Putin has warned against such attacks previously, but reiterating them in Tehran gave them greater resonance — particularly at a summit for a region where Moscow deeply resents U.S. and European attempts at greater influence.
The Russian leader also used the occasion to make a nod to Iran's national pride — describing it as a "world power" and referring to the might of the ancient Persian empire.
In Iran's confrontation with the West, Russia has tread a fine line, warning against heavy pressure on Iran and protecting it — for now — from a third round of U.N. sanctions, while urging Tehran to heed the Security Council's demand that it halt uranium enrichment.
Putin's careful stance on completing the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran suggested the Kremlin is seeking to preserve solid ties with Tehran without angering the West.
"Russia is trying to sit in two chairs at the same time," Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs magazine, told The Associated Press. A pledge to quickly complete the plant would send a "strong signal to the West that Russia is with Iran," he said.
Putin showed he wouldn't be pressed into speeding up completion of the $1 billion contract to build Bushehr.
"I only gave promises to my mom when I was a small boy," he snapped when Iranian reporters prodded him to promise a quick launch.
At the same time, Putin — on the first trip to Iran by a Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin visited in 1943 for talks with Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II — said Moscow wouldn't back down on its obligation to finish the plant.
"Russia has clearly stated that it's going to complete this work," Putin said. "We are not renouncing this obligation."
Russia has warned that the Bushehr plant would not go on line this fall as originally planned, saying Iran was slow in making payments. Iranian officials have angrily denied being behind in its payments and accuse the Kremlin of caving in to Western pressure.
Moscow also has ignored Iranian demands to ship nuclear reactor fuel for the plant, saying it would be delivered only six months before the Bushehr plant begins operation. The launch date has been delayed indefinitely amid the payment dispute.
Putin said the two sides were negotiating revisions to the Bushehr contract, and once agreed a decision on fuel can be made.
The Caspian leaders offered a degree of support for the Iranian nuclear program, stressing in their joint statement that any country like Iran which has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty has the right to "carry out research and can use nuclear energy for peaceful means without discrimination."
Putin underlined his disagreements with Washington on Iran last week, saying he had seen no "objective data" showing Tehran is trying to construct nuclear weapons. Iran says it need enriched uranium to fuel nuclear reactors that will generate electricity.
The main issue before the summit was the Caspian Sea itself.
Divvying up territory in and around the inland sea — believed to contain the world's third-largest reserves of oil and natural gas — has been a divisive issue among the five nations, and the leaders showed no signs of progress toward resolving the dispute.
The Caspian's offshore borders have been in limbo since the 1991 Soviet collapse. The lack of agreement has led to tensions and conflicts over oil deposits, but Putin and Ahmadinejad strongly warned outside powers to stay away from the region.
"All issues related to the Caspian should be settled exclusively by littoral nations," Ahmadinejad said.
Moscow strongly opposes U.S.- and European-backed efforts to build pipelines to deliver Central Asian and Caspian oil and gas to the West by bypassing Russia, through which all the region's pipelines now flow. Russia has pushed for new pipelines to cross its territory as well.
Putin argued that all pipeline projects in the region should require the approval by all five Caspian nations to take effect, a view that would give each capital a veto.
"Projects which may inflict a serious damage to the Caspian environment can't be and mustn't be implemented without a preliminary discussion by the Caspian five and making a consensus decision in the interests of our common sea," Putin said.
But the idea was barely mentioned in comments by the leaders of the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which are striving to balance their relations with Russia, the West and Asia.
In Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, political analyst Ilgar Mamedov said the veto idea was only "Putin's opinion." Caspian nations "are independent and act in accordance with their own interests," he said.

 

hmm,sincere thoughts especially since the Turkey issues that I heard today.

 

Is russia aligning itself with the axis of evil? (am I the only one bothered by the term "Axis of Evil?")
Globalization my friend, Russia will not throw away all the progress in relations we've made in the past few decades. But they might push our buttons a bit since they know we cant stop them. The American public will not allow another war or even a show of force over oil rights. Iraq has been nearly equated to Vietnam by an uneducated but very outspoken portion of the population and it has weakened our country to the point where even people who claim to be our freinds can stab us in the back without fear of retribution. Support the troops, and try to support the cause even tho the execution, planning, and management was flawed.

 

Was that why there was a cat and mouse play. Was it this a.m.?

 

I think the future is going to be very interresting for the Army's linguists that speak Russian... might be time to change my MOS!

 

Actually, there have been some rumblings for the last 3 years or so by the (usually) overly paranoid to keep an eyeball on Mother Russia as it was starting to take interesting political stances once again, and slowly re-outfitting it's military back towards the days of the cold war. Kinda under-the-radar sort of thing... In the last six months it has also gotten into mainstream media a couple of times as well. People seem to forget the intimidating monter the Soviet Union was not so long ago, and they foget about doing "fallout drills" in school. I think it's time they all pop in a copy of Red October, Red Dawn, The Day After, and War Games just to take them back.

 

Red dawn was a great movie

 

Putin is not stupid by any means, he just wants to ensure a Russian influence over the Caspian Sea area. I got no problem with that. It's just a little saber rattling, we do it all the time.

 

Russia obviously has no interest in caspian sea states building pipelines to the EU. They have us running on their oil, as most of Europe depends on a single pipeline run by Russia; interesting fact, isn't it? They shut it off and thats it, no gas for our peugeots, VWs, Fiats and my very own Kawasaki. Recent Russia's economic growthrelies on it'snatural resources and the moment there's some competition they're in trouble. The truth is they don't give a f**k about Iran, but they don't want US to come to their backyard and tap into caspian oil, or much worse, establish pro-western regimes in the area. They need to secure a nice and steady income because a bit further to the east they have a bigger problem called China.

 

Very true. The Russians, and the Chinese have never gotten along that well. I think Putin is just looking out for Russian interests. Any one remember the Monroe Doctrine? We get pissed in a hurry when another countries nave goes into the Gulf of Mexico. I'm not trying to justify it, but I understand it.