The US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities was inevitable after the last ditch attempts at diplomacy failed in Geneva on Friday. President Donald Trump while announcing the ``spectacular military success바카라™바카라™ in obliterating three key nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, warned if Iran does not opt for peace there would be more destruction to come. Iran has already said that much of the most essential items from these sites were removed, fearing exactly such a attack.
Iran has the right to respond, and had earlier declared that if the US enters the war, the 40,000 American troops stationed across West Asia and US assests in the region will be targeted.
The question is what can a weakened Iran do at the moment? Where are Russia and China, Iran바카라™s fast friends? The two countries together with Iran had worked together to push back on American domination in the region. Can or will Russia and China do more than call for immediate talks ? Military intervention from either Russia or China is out of the question.
What Will Russia's Stance Be ?
Basically at the moment Russia does not have much leverage to militarily change the situation on the ground in
Iran. It is too late for that. Russia will push hard diplomatically and call for immediate de- escalation,바카라™바카라™ says Nandan Unnikrishnan, Russian expert at the Observer Research Foundation, currently in Moscow. It is too late even to try send air-defence shields to Iran as Israel has already destroyed much of the earlier systems that was in place. This kind of planning takes months to execute.
Russia had said before the US strikes that it was worried that the attacks on Iran could plunge the region into a ``"an abyss of instability and war" and said diplomacy was the only solution. President Vladimir Putin has warm ties with Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
In a television clip posted on X, Putin was asked after Israel바카라™s attack on Iran, why Russia was not doing enough to help Tehran.
``Israel today is almost a Russian speaking country, two million people from the former Soviet Union and Russia live there. We take that into account,바카라™바카라™ was his short reply.
What Will China's Stance Be ?
China, now the number two military and economic power in the world has expanded its global footprints in the world. Spreading its wings in West Asia, China and Iran had signed a 25-year cooperation and comprehensive strategic partnership in March 2021.It also played peace maker between Iran and Saudi Arabia in 2023 to restore diplomatic ties and normal relations between the rival Sunni and Shia powers.
China has much to lose from the war and instability in the Persian Gulf. Half of the country바카라™s oil imports move in tankers through the Strait of Hormuz on Iran바카라™s southern coast.
But China is not in the habit of projecting military power abroad. It does so in Asia but will not stretch across to help Iran in its time of dire need. China too will not act beyond calling like Russia for immediate de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.
Iran바카라™s strength had been its proxies in the region that allowed Tehran a shield against its enemies. But since October 7, Israel had decimated all its support system. Hezbollah in Lebanon was a powerful force. Today it can do very little. Hamas is tied down in Gaza. Syrian forces that had been an sheet anchor to keep weapon supply lines working was toppled ( thanks to Turkiye). All this has considerably weakened Iran. It now has militia groups in Iraq that can attack American forces and the Houthis though bombed several times also has some fire power. For now Iran has been left to defend itself alone.
