Cozying Up

Excerpt from this article in the October 17, 2007 edition of the Washington Times (emphases mine):

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday warned against a U.S. military strike against Iran and invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to make a precedent-setting visit to Moscow — dealing another blow to U.S. hopes of isolating the regime in Tehran.

Mr. Putin issued the invitation on the sidelines of a summit in Tehran of the five nations bordering the Caspian Sea.

His trip to the Iranian capital was the first by a Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin visited there in 1943 to participate in an Allied conference to plan for a postwar world.

In a final declaration, the Caspian nations backed Mr. Putin's call, saying "under no circumstances will they allow [the use of their] territories by third countries to launch aggression or other military action against any of the member states."

The participants also backed the rights of signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty — which includes Iran — to develop peaceful nuclear energy....

A bit more detail from this article in the Washington Post (emphases mine):

Putin has said there is no evidence that Iran's nuclear program has a military dimension, but the Kremlin nonetheless has delayed construction of a nuclear power plant in Iran, ostensibly because of a financial dispute. Many analysts here say the Kremlin was angered by Iran's unwillingness to accept a Russian proposal to enrich uranium, on Russian soil, for Iran's needs.

Putin refused to say if the plant could begin operation before he leaves office next year.

"I only gave promises to my mom when I was a small boy," Putin told Iranian reporters. "At the same time, we are not going to renounce our obligations."

Ahmadinejad and the mullahs of Iran have their own agenda. Putin has his as well. Where will this Russia-Iran alliance lead the rest of the world? It seems to me that the world just became a more dangerous place.