RUSSIA AND CHINA STAY AWAY?
- Paul Hansbury
- 20 hours ago
- 5 min read
As the United States-Israeli war against Iran enters its twelfth day, there are several indications that the fighting could endure for some time. President Donald Trump's insistence that everything is ahead of schedule aside, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday of the Iranians: 'They're fighting, and I respect that.'
The US insists that it will choose when the war ends; that may prove optimistic. Yesterday the US acknowledged it had suffered 140 wounded soldiers in addition to nine deaths. Iranian forces and capabilities may have been degraded massively, and missile stockpiles depleted, but no one can be certain how long they can keep up the fight. What does seem apparent is that Iran is largely on its own. As a friend wrote to me over the weekend, 'Surely events in Venezuela and Iran show the strategic failure of Russia and China's commitment to multilateralism.'
Indeed, after years of reading commentaries and analysis about the deepening ties between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, and those states' rhetoric of mutual support, one of the most conspicuous things about the past week has been the absence of Russian and Chinese involvement in the conflict (with minor exceptions, mentioned below). For the time being, Beijing and Moscow are looking on as American unilateralists, albeit with Israelis alongside, think that they can carry the day.
'The axis of upheaval'