As Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel into Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant Saturday, the rest of the world watched with unease. Though the significance of the Bushehr power plant has been overestimated, if not misunderstood, the politics around it is complicated.

The Iran-Russia cooperation on the Bushehr plant dates back to a $1 billion deal to restart the project in 1995. Iranian leaders were renewing their ambition to modernize the country, while Russia was desperately in need of finance to reinvigorate its economy after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The project had been left half-finished by the Germans during the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and was even more damaged by the Iraqis during the Iran-Iraq War.

The 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor by itself does not involve breaches against the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Russia has said it is committed both to offering enriched uranium for the power plant and to retrieving all the used fuel. That is to say, it is unlikely that Iranians would divert the fuel for military purposes.

Russia and Iran have reasons to claim that the cooperation is good practice for guaranteeing Iran's rights for peaceful use of nuclear energy. It may even facilitate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty regime by offering a model for cooperation between nuclear and non-nuclear states.

Economic and geopolitical benefits have from the very beginning been Russia's major interests in Iran's nuclear program. Russia, like other major nuclear powers, certainly does not want to have an additional nuclear power. But the possible economic benefits outweighed the possibility that Iran might produce a nuclear weapon.

Similar calculations will continue to direct Russia's policy toward Iran's nuclear program. Deteriorating relations between Iran and the West means Russia would naturally be Iran's primary partner. Therefore, Russia has been very careful to maintain a balanced policy. Though it joined the West's efforts to prevent Iran from moving forward on its nuclear program – any advancement in technology might mean a loss in business opportunities for Russians – Russia does not want to lose its status as a potential partner for Iran.

Russia also does not want to see a military solution. A friendly or neutral Iran at least would serve as an important buffer against any potential encroachment into its sphere of influence in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Iran also benefits from such cooperation. To its international critics, Iran could show that its nuclear program is peaceful. To its citizens, the project will be a demonstration of the government's will to stand up to international pressure.

Dr. Jin Liangxiang is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/node_7075400.htm