“Comments from morons and weirdos from the radical left”: Donald Trump says he does not believe that China and Russia are helping Iran

US President Donald Trump late Monday evening dismissed the idea that China and Russia were helping Iran, saying both countries would have too much to lose by doing so.

“I see many comments from these morons and weirdos on the radical left that China and Russia are helping this 'wonderful' Iranian Islamic Republic. If they do it, it’s very marginally, but I don’t think they do it at all,” Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“They have too much to lose, and we would know it, we would even know it very quickly,” added the President of the United States, engaged since February 28 in a conflict against Iran which has become bogged down. Both China and Russia maintain strong diplomatic, commercial and military ties with the Islamic Republic, but have been wary of getting involved head-on in the Middle East war. Moscow has not officially announced concrete aid to Iran since the start of this conflict, apart from sending humanitarian aid.

But American media claimed that the Russians transmitted military intelligence used by Tehran to carry out its strikes. Beijing strongly denounced the American and Israeli strikes, and implicitly criticized Iranian strikes against countries in the region and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. China has in the past provided Iran with drones as well as equipment with possible dual use, civil or military.

Beijing has denied press reports that Chinese semiconductor manufacturer Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) had sent equipment to Tehran. China and Russia have also been accused of helping Iran circumvent international sanctions targeting its oil sales.