Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Recent high-level visits between Iran and Russia and Iran and China — alongside China reporting imports of Iranian oil in official customs data — raise the question of whether Beijing and Moscow are ready to engage more deeply with Tehran, sanctions or no sanctions. For Iran, the pivot east is strategic and sends a message to the US that it has alternatives, especially should nuclear negotiations in Vienna collapse. But while Beijing and Moscow share common security and economic interests with Iran and have lent political support, their willingness to engage may stop short of Tehran's needs should it remain under sanctions.
