Before anyone suggests that all Russia is focusing on is China at any and all costs, consider that as we have been saying since 2012 [6], perhaps just as important to Russia (and China) strategically is Iran which has already lashed out against the Petrodollar on numerous occasions in the past, not only for its vast oil reserves, but for its even more strategic location in the heart of the Persian Gulf.
To be sure, the Eurasian crescent of Russia and China would be made all that much stronger if the two nations had a toehold on the Straits of Hormuz, and were able to shut traffic - either tanker or military, with the US Fifth Fleet located in Bahrain - into the Gulf at their bidding. Which is why it was not surprising that not even 24 hours after Russia and China announced the "holy grail" energy deal, that RIA reported Russia is already preparing to lock in the Tehran regime with a deal to build not one but 8 (!) more nuclear power plants in the country.
[7]
From RIA [8]:
Moscow may sign an intergovernmental agreement with Teheran this year to build eight new reactors for nuclear power plants in Iran, a source close to the negotiations told journalists Thursday.
Two reactors could be built at the Bushehr Power Plant and six reactors at other sites, the source said, adding that the talks were in their final stage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that Russian-Iranian cooperation will continue despite international turbulence around Tehran. Putin said that Russia and Iran are not only neighbors, but also long-standing reliable partners.
Iran’s only nuclear power plant near Bushehr came online September 2011 and began operating at full capacity a year after. Moscow handed over operational control of the Russian-made plant to Iran in September last year.
A deal, it goes without saying, that would have China's explicit and implicit blessing.
And cue the US foreign department collapsing in an apopleptic fit of sheer powerlessness, if many, many "costs" for all those involved.