The Russian-Iranian deal

The Iranian problem is the most delicate in U.S.-Russian polemics. It will obviously be discussed by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and U.S. Vice President Albert Gore in Moscow.

Americans see the deal as an indicator of Moscow's democratic maturity. Washington uses this criterion to tell how sincere Moscow is in its declared determination to keep step with the West.

Moscow has considerations of its own. Iran is far closer to Moscow than to Washington, so Moscow wants to hear convincing arguments about Iran's intentions to gain weapons of mass destruction.

Moscow suffers from a shortage of hard currency, so it is very important for us to find the golden middle and to compare long- term and short-term benefits. Russia realizes that a loss of the Iranian deal means much more than a loss of just this contract. On the other hand, it hopefully realizes that adherence to its original position just to spite its trans-Atlantic rival cannot bring it any dividends.

-- Krasnaya Zvezda, Moscow