Believe it or not, the Russians played a generally constructive role dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat until now. Putin’s need for diplomatic friends after Ukraine has changed the equation, however. He now looks more like an Iranian ally than an honest broker.
The Iranian nuclear negotiations already appeared to be on life support; after this week, I can’t imagine they have any future. Then what? In one sense, the new axis of evil simplifies everything for American diplomats; the Israelis and the Saudis have been soft on the Russians for self-interested reasons to date, but they can’t possibly ignore the existential threat that a Russia-Iran alliance would present to them, so I would expect that posture to change. With the imminent failure of the negotiations, however, the American choice is stark: acquiesce to the Iranian nukes and rely on deterrence or send in the bombers. I’m afraid the latter is more likely.