US President Donald Trump stated that “it would be very bad” for Russia and China if they were to supply weapons to Iran, but added that the leaders of both countries had assured him that this would not happen.
“During our recent meeting in Beijing, Chinese leader Xi told me that under no circumstances would he supply or sell weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and this also applies to Chinese companies,” Trump wrote on 24 July in a post on Truth Social.
The US President noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a similar commitment, writing that “Putin, despite the terrible war still raging with Ukraine… told me that he, too, would not sell weapons to Iran”.
“[Putin] knows that I do not sell weapons to Ukraine, but sell them to NATO, and NATO pays 100 per cent of the cost. Then they can do whatever they like with them,” he said, concluding: “So, in my view, these two major countries, which are often mentioned in connection with Iran, are not involved in this.”
“If they were involved, it would be very bad for them and would certainly not be in their interests,” Trump added.
These comments came against the backdrop of China, Russia and Iran maintaining close strategic ties and often being described as pragmatic strategic partners.
Recently, Reuters, citing four informed sources, reported that US intelligence analysts are investigating whether Russia played any role in the recent Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the region.