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Further UN Security Council sanctions against Tehran have yet to materialise, but a number of international companies have already been pulling out of Iran.

While some firms are reluctant to risk investing in a country with uncertain perspectives, others also have to take into consideration their own interests in other parts of the world, as well as their national government's stance on Iran.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev seemed to confirm that the Kremlin was ready to support new sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear plans.

"As of yet, Iran is not demonstrating the required restraint and is behaving quite irresponsibly," he said in an interview with Danish television earlier this week.

"Of course, sanctions are a bad thing, because they rarely produce results. But when all other means have been exhausted, why not?"

An adviser to the European Union, Mehrdad Emadi, believes that it is not in Russia's interest to be in direct conflict with the EU and the US over the issue of Iran.

"If the US and EU agree on sanctions [against Iran], what cost will Russia be ready to pay?"
Far behind China

The volume of trade between Iran and Russia now stands at about $3bn (£2bn) a year, almost 10 times less than between Iran and China, says Vladimir Sazhin, a senior fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

India, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and some other countries are also ahe... >>>