If true, this would be a good thing. If it’s true. And if it’s not just a move by Putin to remind the Iranians who is boss.

Moscow has warned Iran that it will not deliver fuel to a nearly completed Russian-built nuclear reactor unless Tehran lifts the veil of secrecy on suspicious past atomic activities, a European diplomat said Tuesday.

Separately, a U.S. official told the Associated Press that the Russians are not meeting other commitments that would allow the Iranians to activate the Bushehr nuclear reactor, and suggested the delays were an attempt to pressure Tehran into showing more compliance with U.N. Security Council demands. Both men demanded anonymity in exchange for speaking to the AP because their information was confidential.

The increased Russian pressure comes at a time Iran already appears to be ready to compromise on a key international request — that it lift its shroud of secrecy over past activities that heightened suspicions it might be looking to develop a nuclear arms program.

Russia would be reneging on a 2005 deal to fuel the Bushehr plant. The Iranians, meanwhile, are sending their usual mix of signals designed to delay and misdirect even while they display defiance.

Russian and to a lesser extent China are the key to halting Iran’s nuke program peacefully, always have been, just as China is the key to ending the genocide in Darfur (and any call to take action in Darfur that doesn’t include heavy lifting with and by the Chinese isn’t serious). Both Russia and China play double games using the UNSC as their bulwark, with a long-range goal of reducing US influence and effectiveness in the world.

I don’t know what Putin’s up to with these moves regarding Iran’s nuclear program, but we can probably count on finding him doing something nefarious elsewhere as he’s making a show of being helpful vis a vis Iran. That’s just how things seem to work these days.

Update: Perhaps all of this is just a distraction from Iran’s real issue — the naked handshake scandal.