China Sides with Iran

Another Superpower Thumbs Its Nose at President Obama

Oct 15, 2009

China made its intentions known today as Premier Wen Jiabao said the communist country will continue its support of Iran.

An AP news story, China's Premier Touts Cooperation With Iran, Signals Opposition to New Sanctions, by foxnews.com, reports that Jiabao speaks for China when saying, “China intends to strengthen its cooperation with Iran, an indication Beijing would oppose growing calls in the West for additional sanctions against the Islamic regime for its nuclear program.”

The Implications

This bodes well for Iranian President Ahmadenijad as he can clearly count on another world super power to keep the threat of sanctions at bay. Russia’s Vladimir Putin expressed similar sentiment Wednesday, October 14 with statements saying that Iran should not be pressured by western powers as reported in, Putin’s Warning.

The AP story reported that Wen made his statements while visiting with First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi during a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security group that includes China, Russia and four central Asian nations.

China’s Iranian Connection

According to righttruth.typepad.com , a David Blair article which appeared in The Daily Telegraph on March 4, 2008 titled UN approves fresh sanctions against Iran, “China has had considerable involvement in Iranian militarisation efforts, including offers of weapons, nuclear technology and capital goods, in exchange for Iranian oil.”

Iran’s oil rich natural resources allow it to buy virtually anything it needs or desires from more industrialized nations as they are very oil and natural gas dependant.

Obama’s Dilemma

The UN Security Council, according to their website, consists of five permanent members and ten temporary members. The five permanent members are: The United States, France, The Russian Federation, The United Kingdom, and China. The ten temporary members currently are: Austria, Japan, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Viet Nam, Costa Rica, Mexico, Croatia, and Turkey.

Of these 15 countries The U.S., China, and Russia possess the first, second, and third strongest militaries respectively, while France and The U.K. place fifth and sixth on a ranking list reported by www.globalfirepower.com.

The president is hog tied as far as Iranian sanctions are concerned. With the support of China and Russia, Iran knows that it can act independently without recourse. Even if the president was able to persuade China and Russia to impose sanctions against Iran, the sanctions could be impossible to enforce..

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