As the United States ratchets up pressure on Iran for its hard-line crackdown on anti-government protesters, Iran's diplomatic isolation is deepening. Even China, long considered one of Iran's closest allies, has voiced criticism over the crisis but has stopped short of offering tangible support.
On the 13th, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in an article titled "Isolated Iran finds limits to its friendship with China" that "despite street protests and a recession pressuring Iran's government, ally China has sent few signals of meaningful support."
China has long been Iran's biggest trading partner, reportedly buying about 90% of Iran's oil exports. China has taken most Iranian crude, which is under Western sanctions, at bargain prices, and in 2024 alone it imported $4.4 billion worth of goods from Iran, including iron ore, copper, and chemical products. For Iran, which suffered heavy economic damage from Western sanctions, trade with China was effectively an essential lifeline.
China's support for Iran has spanned the economy and security. In 2021, China signed a 25-year economic cooperation pact that called for investing $400 billion across Iran's economy in return for a stable supply of discounted oil. And in December last year, Iran and China hosted "Sahand-2025," a counterterrorism drill organized under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a security and economic bloc led by Russia.
In particular, China has formed an informal alliance known as "Crink" with Iran, Russia, and North Korea to counter the United States. China has helped provide dual-use (military and civilian) materials needed to prop up Russia's isolated economy and build its military power, while Iran supplied ammunition to Russia and supported the development of drones used in the war in Ukraine.
But when allies faced extreme crises, China did not provide active support. Even when Israel and the United States carried out airstrikes on Iran last year, Crink countries, including China, did little to help Iran. China was concerned that its banks and key corporations could be exposed to U.S. and European sanctions, the WSJ reported.
China's stance has not changed much in the current phase of intensifying U.S. pressure on Iran. On the 12th, when asked about reports that hundreds were killed during Iran's protest crackdown, China, through Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Mao Ning, offered only a principled position, saying, "We hope the Iranian government and people overcome the present difficulties and maintain national stability."
The WSJ said, "China's reluctance to back Iran more firmly resembles how it offered little meaningful support to Venezuela before the United States raided to arrest Nicolás Maduro."
China's hesitation to intervene in the Iran crisis is rooted in the calculation that it would suffer considerable damage if it did. The United States has already announced a 25% tariff on countries that transact with Iran. Moreover, with President Trump vowing to consider "very powerful options" regarding the Iran situation, China's support for Iran could potentially escalate into U.S.-China conflict.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong also reported the same day, citing foreign policy experts, that "China stands to lose more than in the Venezuela case if the Iranian regime collapses, but it is expected to avoid direct involvement." Zhang Luruf Saman, a senior researcher at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, told the SCMP, "Regarding the Iran crisis, China will find it hard to go beyond issuing a diplomatic statement calling for the exclusion of external interference and will maintain a very cautious posture."