US President Donald Trump said late Monday evening that he does not believe China and Russia are helping Iran “at all,” adding that Moscow and Beijing have “a lot to lose” if they provide support to Tehran.
Trump stated, in a post on the “Truth Social” platform, that he had seen comments from his critics and opponents stating that China and Russia were providing assistance to Iran.
“If they do it is on a very limited level, but I don’t think they do it at all,” he wrote. "They have a lot to lose, and we're going to find out, and we're going to find out very quickly."
Trump said in July that he was confident that China and Russia would not help Tehran in the war, but he warned that if they intervened in the conflict, it would be “very bad for them,” according to Reuters.
The United States has been waging a war against Iran since February 28, when Washington and Israel launched attacks on Iran, while Tehran responded by launching strikes on Israel and Gulf countries that host American bases.
Since then, US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have resulted in the deaths of thousands and the displacement of millions.
Trump had previously described Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “neutral” in the Iran war.
Moscow and Beijing have close relations with Tehran. Russia says that the Iran war could lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, while Beijing denounced Washington's attacks on Tehran, describing them as a blatant violation of Iranian sovereignty.
Last month, Trump warned Xi against providing support to Iran during the Chinese President's visit to Washington, and the US ambassador to Beijing said at the time that Trump had received assurances that China would not do that.
The warning came amid reports that China had provided Iran with shoulder-fired air defense missile launchers, and that Tehran had found ways to circumvent sanctions imposed on its oil sales with Chinese assistance.
In September, Trump downplayed a report that Iran had obtained satellite images of a base in Jordan from Chinese authorities before an attack in July that resulted in the death of three American soldiers.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the security threat targeting Fairford Air Base, which the US army uses in the war against Iran, was “almost certainly directed” by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Yesterday, London summoned its Iranian ambassador to express its protest, and also included two Iranian citizens on the sanctions list, “for their role in facilitating hostile activities on behalf of the Iranian regime, with the intention of threatening, planning, or carrying out attacks abroad,” in light of the mysterious incident that occurred on September 27.
The United States and its partners, including Australia, Canada, France, and Germany, warned Iran against launching hostile actions on its territory. The joint statement, signed by 29 countries, said: “Any attempt by Iran to threaten, silence, intimidate, harass, harm, or coerce people on our soil... is unacceptable.”
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday that the security threat targeting Fairford Air Base, which the US Army uses in the war against Iran, was “almost certainly directed” by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
In this context, London announced the summoning of the Iranian ambassador to it, and the inclusion of two Iranian citizens on the sanctions list, against the backdrop of the mysterious incident that occurred on September 27 of last year.
Last week, the United States surprisingly announced the withdrawal of all its B-1 bombers from the British Royal Air Force base, following the incident.
Burnham told the House of Commons: “Our assessment is that it is very likely that coordination took place in Iran, and almost certainly under the direction of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.” He added: “We will not tolerate these threats on our lands. We will firmly confront Iran’s use of criminal networks, using our full powers to target it and its financing channels.”
The British Foreign Office announced the recall of the Iranian ambassador to London.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: “We also announce the designation of two Iranian citizens; “For their role in facilitating or engaging in hostile activities on behalf of the Iranian regime, with the clear intent of threatening, planning, or carrying out attacks abroad.”
The incident sparked widespread speculation since the police were called to the base located in southwestern England, after a farmer reported the presence of a group of men with white pickup trucks, engaging in an activity that he described as “suspicious.”
Although the anti-terrorism police conducted an extensive investigation, the seven suspects who were arrested over a period of days, including a British-Iranian citizen, were released on bail without charges being brought against any of them.
The British authorities classified the incident, at the time, as a “major” incident. This led to the evacuation of a village adjacent to the base, but the source and nature of the threat remained shrouded in mystery.
Investigators did not find any explosives inside the pickup trucks, but they did find a quantity of gasoline, according to officials.
Miliband recalled that the United Kingdom had “designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard under our new state threat powers, and imposed significant sanctions on those responsible for Iran’s malign activities.”
