As Iran talks tough to Israel, China vows support for Tehran.
In a meeting with Iran’s number two official last week, China’s premier reiterated Beijing’s support for the Middle East nation.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber at a meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, on Oct. 26.
Mr. Li said China will support Iran in securing its “state sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity, and resolutely oppose any external interference in Iran’s internal affairs,” according to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, published on China’s various embassy websites.
The statement, with carefully chosen words that specifically reference Iran’s own concerns, comes at a time when the region is under the threat of a widening war, due to the Israel–Hamas war that was ignited by the Hamas terror group’s brutal Oct. 7 attack.
Experts told The Epoch Times Beijing’s statement indicates that Tehran has been seeking Beijing’s defense shield.
“It is likely that Iran is seeking Chinese security guarantees in case Tehran’s role in supporting Hamas terror group lands it in trouble. In that context, this public Chinese show of support is important and meaningful,” Ahmed Quraishi, a Dubai-based journalist who has covered the Middle East for over two decades, told The Epoch Times in a written message.
Iran Warns of ‘Far-Reaching Consequences’
Just one week after the Oct. 7 attack, as the Israeli offensive against Hamas continued, and as the United States was trying to deter Iran and Lebanon-backed Hezbollah—an Iranian proxy—from joining the war, Tehran warned Israel through the United Nations that it intends to intervene if Israel’s operations in Gaza continue. Axios broke news of the warning in an exclusive report on Oct. 14, citing two diplomatic sources familiar with the matter.
Subsequently, Iran’s mission to the United Nations warned via a post on X of “far-reaching consequences” if Israel’s “war crimes and genocide” were not stopped.
Ten days after the Axios report, the U.S. Department of Defense, while announcing the deployment of a squadron of F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft in the Middle East, said that U.S. forces conducting counterterrorism missions in both Iraq and Syria had been attacked by Iran-backed militias on more than a dozen occasions since Oct. 7.
“We know that the groups conducting these attacks are supported by the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and the Iranian regime,” Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during the briefing. He further warned of an escalation of Iran-backed attacks against U.S. forces in the region.
