Iran resilience reshapes China, Russia view of US power — SkimNews
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- Iran has preserved its political structure and much of its military response capability despite heavy blows, turning what was expected to be a short US-Israeli campaign into a longer, costlier conflict.
- China's seaborne crude imports fell to roughly 7.14 million barrels per day in August 2026, nearly 40% below the prewar average, as the war disrupted energy flows and cut Chinese refineries off from a key source of crude.
- China has remained a major buyer of Iranian oil under threat of secondary US sanctions, and Iranian dual-use technologies used in drone and missile programs have reached Tehran through China-based commercial networks, according to US reports cited in the piece.
- Russia has cooperated with Iran on hypersonic cruise missile propulsion technology since 2023 under a secret program that continued into 2026, according to Financial Times reporting cited by the author.
- On April 7, China and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on the Strait of Hormuz, with Beijing explicitly arguing the council should not legitimize unauthorized military operations.
Why it matters: Iran's ability to maintain political and military structure despite US-Israeli strikes has provided Beijing and Moscow a working template — informal sanctions evasion, technology transfers, and UNSC vetoes — that limits Washington's reach in regional conflicts, with direct application to China's positioning on Taiwan.
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