clipped from: www.telegraph.co.uk President Vladimir Putin handed the Iranian regime a welcome publicity boost yesterday when he delivered a stern warning against US military action during a historic summit in Teheran.
Mr Putin also secured the vital backing of Azerbaijan in a five-nation pact by the Caspian states to prevent the US from using the region as a staging ground for military action against Iran.
Although Russia lent its reluctant backing to two United Nations resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran, it has been stridently opposed to escalating the penalties after Teheran refused to stop its uranium enrichment programme.
Among Western diplomats, opinion is divided as to whether Russia — which has little to gain from a nuclear Iran — will eventually acquiesce.
Among potential American targets would be Iran's first nuclear power plant, which Russia has been building, despite US displeasure, at the Gulf port of Bushehr for the past decade.