s also been an ideal way to gain leverage with both Tehran and Washington.</p>

<p>Delaying the project has given Russia continued influence with Tehran in international attempts to have it stop uranium enrichment -- a program Iran says it needs to make fuel for an envisaged reactor network but which also can be used to create fissile warhead material. The delays also have served to placate the U.S., which opposes rewarding Iran while it continues to defy the U.N. Security Council with its nuclear activitie