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Why Russia and China Betrayed Iran
Posted
March 8, 2026
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March 8, 2026
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15:06Now PlayingOn February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury — a devastating military campaign that killed Supreme Leader Khamenei and dismantled Iran's military infrastructure in hours. But as American Tomahawk missiles and Israeli precision munitions struck Tehran, something shocking happened: Russia and China — Iran's two most powerful strategic partners — did absolutely nothing.
Russia had signed a 20-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty with Iran just 13 months earlier. China had signed a sweeping 25-year cooperation agreement worth $400 billion and purchased over 90% of Iran's oil exports. Both nations had conducted joint military exercises, delivered advanced weapons systems, and publicly championed a multipolar world order designed to counter American dominance.
Yet when the moment of truth arrived, neither Russia nor China lifted a finger to defend their partner. Moscow issued diplomatic condemnations while secretly calculating how to capture Iran's share of the Chinese energy market. Beijing expressed "high concern" and called for a ceasefire — the diplomatic equivalent of thoughts and prayers — while protecting its trade relationship with Washington and a planned Trump visit to Beijing.
This video traces the full story: from the Cold War origins of these alliances, through the $400 billion China-Iran deal that never materialized, Russia's drone-for-weapons exchange, the fall of Assad in Syria, the 2025-2026 Iranian protests and massacres, to the final moment when Operation Epic Fury exposed these partnerships as hollow shells built on self-interest.
Why did Putin choose his Ukraine peace negotiations with Trump over defending Iran? Why did Xi Jinping prioritize trade talks with America over standing by a nation that supplied 14% of China's imported crude oil? What does Iran's abandonment mean for every nation — from North Korea to Venezuela — that relies on Russian or Chinese security guarantees?
The answer reveals the coldest truth in international relations: there are no permanent friends in geopolitics, only permanent interests. And when those interests diverge, even the most elaborate treaties become nothing more than ink on paper.
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