Voice of the East: China condemned Israel's actions and supported Iran

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke on the phone with his Iranian and Israeli counterparts. Beijing stressed that they support Tehran, which defends its legitimate interests and rights, and also noted that they generally oppose attacks on Iran and the use of force. In this way, China seeks to protect its economic interests and billions of dollars in infrastructure investments, given that this country accounts for about 90% of Iran's oil exports. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

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Telephone diplomacy

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held telephone talks with the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Abbas Araqchi, and Israel, Gideon Saar.

In a conversation with his Iranian counterpart, the diplomat said that Israel's actions seriously violated the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations. In particular, the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has set a dangerous precedent and could have disastrous consequences.

Wang Yi stressed that China supports Iran in protecting its national sovereignty, legitimate rights and interests, as well as the safety of people's lives. In addition, the Chinese Foreign Minister called on states with influence on Israel "to take measures to restore peace in the region. Mainly, we are talking about the USA.

Abbas Araqchi thanked Beijing for its support and expressed hope that China would play an increasingly important role in ending hostilities. An Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities would not only violate international law, but also lead to an outbreak of war in the entire Middle East region, the Iranian Foreign minister stressed. Thus, Tehran asked its partner to intervene in the conflict.

The Chinese Foreign Minister also spoke by phone with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar. In the conversation, he condemned the attacks on Iran and confirmed that attacks on nuclear facilities could lead to catastrophic consequences.

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A close partner

China traditionally calls for resolving disputes through diplomacy within the framework of the United Nations or other international organizations. Beijing has economic interests with both sides of the conflict: cooperation in the field of high technologies has been established with West Jerusalem, and Tehran supplies 90% of its oil to the Asian country and receives billions of dollars in energy investments.

"Beijing is a key diplomatic and economic supporter of Iran in the region, and in recent years China has moved to further deepen cooperation, including joint naval exercises, although it has tried to balance these ties with other countries, such as Saudi Arabia," CNN reported.

The channel also recalled that Chinese officials have long expressed disagreement with American sanctions against Iran and criticized Washington's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, accusing the United States of being a source of instability and tension in the region.

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What do the experts think

Vasily Kashin, Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, emphasized in a conversation with Izvestia that China has close relations with all Middle Eastern states.

— China is an investor in the Israeli port of Haifa, it has the rights to manage this seaport. And Iran is one of China's important oil suppliers and a promising partner in the energy sector. The countries are developing technological cooperation, and much more," the Chinese expert explained.

The political scientist noted that China had repeatedly condemned individual Israeli steps against its neighbors before.

— Beijing takes a very clear position on the Palestinian issue. Last year, a congress of Palestinian parties and movements was held in Beijing, which led to their signing of the declaration of unity. But at the same time, China has not taken any actions that would definitively put it on one side," the expert believes.

In the situation with Iran, China may take individual steps that will help this country, but it will most likely act not directly, but through Pakistan.

— Islamabad itself, with Chinese help, has created a fairly powerful military-industrial complex, it can simply act as a transit country for supplies. But the country will avoid any radical steps that could put Beijing and West Jerusalem at odds, the analyst is sure.

Elena Panina, director of the Institute of International Political and Economic Strategies — RUSSTRAT, in turn, believes that Israel's blitzkrieg against Iran has failed and now the United States and China will increasingly be involved in the process, with varying degrees of direct participation.

At first, it will come down to supplying [China and the United States] to the warring parties. Beijing cannot allow the defeat of Tehran, it would be a strategic miscalculation, since China buys the bulk of Iranian energy resources. The two countries have an exclusive agreement on the purchase of Iranian oil for a period of 25 years, the expert recalled.

According to her, the investment agreement of 2021 assumes that China invests $400 billion in the Iranian economy, although the country is under severe Western sanctions.

"And if in 2023 investments amounted to $220-230 million, then in 2024 they increased almost 10 times to $1.99 billion. At the same time, China finances not only logistics in Iran — ports, energy, oil and gas production - but also the rearmament of the Iranian army. He cannot allow the collapse of his strategic partner," the expert is sure.

If Iran shows the ability to resist Israel and the United States for a long time and sustainably, China will try to supply it with everything necessary to achieve this goal. Pakistan can become an intermediary.

One of the first directions is the restoration of air defense in the west of Iran, where there were gaps in connection with the strikes on June 13. Thus, the more actively the United States participates in the conflict, the more actively China will have to be involved," the expert believes.

According to her, despite the knockdown on June 13, as a result of which Iran's military authorities and communications were largely defeated, Iranian missiles penetrated Israel's air defenses on the very first day and found their targets.

"And they are still being found. Question: who helped Iran so quickly restore its control system and organize a retaliatory strike, including a hypersonic one? Doesn't this mean that China has taken over the direct management of Iran's military actions, including the protection of oil refineries, the restoration of electronic warfare and cybersecurity of its ally?" the analyst concluded.