Trump Says He Does Not Believe China and Russia are Helping Iran

Reuters

US President Donald Trump.

US President Donald Trump said late on Monday that he did not believe China and Russia were helping Iran “at all”, arguing that Moscow and Beijing had “too much to lose” by supporting Tehran.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that he had seen comments from his critics and opponents that China and Russia were helping Iran.

"If they are, it's at a very low level, but I ⁠don't believe they are at all. They have too much to lose, and we would know about it, and know about it very fast," Trump wrote.

Trump said in July he trusted China and Russia not to help Tehran in the Iran war, but warned that if they did get involved "it would be very bad for them."

The United States and Iran have been at war since 28 February, when US and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with attacks on Israel and Gulf states hosting US military bases.

Trump has previously described Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "neutral" during the Iran war.

Moscow and Beijing maintain close ties with Tehran. Russia has warned that the war in Iran could trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, while China has condemned US attacks on Iran as a flagrant violation of the country’s sovereignty.

Last month, Trump warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against providing support to Iran during Xi’s visit to Washington, receiving assurances that Beijing would not do so, the US ambassador to China said at the time.

The warning came amid reports that China had supplied Iran with shoulder-fired air defence missile launchers and helped Tehran find ways to circumvent sanctions on its oil sales.

In September, Trump dismissed a report alleging that Iran had obtained satellite images of a military base in Jordan from Chinese entities before an attack in July that killed three US troops.

Source: Reuters



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