Brussels, March 21 Russia and China have carefully calibrated their support for Iran while avoiding a direct confrontation with the United States during the ongoing conflict in West Asia. Yet, a report has highlighted, the balancing act carries significant risks as Gulf states may drift closer to Washington if Beijing appears too aligned with Tehran and Russia could struggle to handle its own military commitments.
"When Iran confronts Israel and the United States, it does not stand alone. Behind Tehran’s defiance lies the quiet but consequential support of China and Russia, two powers intent on reshaping the global order. Their assistance is not about ideological solidarity with Iran’s clerical regime. It is about weakening American primacy, expanding their own influence, and demonstrating that Washington can no longer dictate terms in the Middle East,” a report in the European Times detailed.
“Russia and China share a common objective: to erode US dominance. Moscow, bogged down in Ukraine and isolated by Western sanctions, sees Iran as a partner in defiance, a fellow pariah whose survival strengthens the case for a multipolar world. Beijing, meanwhile, seeks to secure energy supplies and expand its Belt and Road footprint while subtly undermining US alliances in the Gulf. Both benefit from Iran’s willingness to absorb the costs of direct confrontation with Washington and Tel Aviv,” it added.
According to the report, what is unfolding goes beyond a regional confrontation and challenges the world order. China and Russia’s support for Iran, it said, reflects a shift away from the unipolarity led by the US.
“They are building a coalition of resistance, states willing to defy US pressure, survive sanctions, and assert sovereignty against Western dictates. For Washington, the challenge is not just Iran’s defiance but the broader architecture of support that makes that defiance sustainable,” it noted.
The report further said that the US must recognise that isolating Iran cannot be achieved unilaterally and that countering Tehran “requires not only military deterrence but also a strategy to blunt the appeal of China’s economic lifelines and Russia’s military partnerships”.
“Without addressing the broader coalition behind Iran, Washington risks fighting symptoms while ignoring the disease, the erosion of its global primacy,” it stated.
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