 "Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday said China was “deeply worried” about the conflict in West Asia. Reuters")
Is China helping Iran secretly in its conflict against Israel?
There are reports that, as the battle between Israel and Iran raged over the past few days, China sent three mystery cargo planes to Tehran.
Some are concerned that these planes contain weapons that Iran could deploy against Israel .
But what happened? What do we know? And why would China help Iran?
What happened? What do we know?
Three planes from China, all Boeing 747s , departed for Iran in three consecutive days.
The first one left on Saturday, a day after Israel launched its first attacks on Iran.
Read Israel Iran conflict live updates here.
The second departed for Iran on Sunday and the third left for Iran on Monday.
These types of Boeing 747s are often used to transport heavy-duty military equipment.
All three planes charted the same flight path – heading west along northern China into Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
The planes then dropped off the radar near Iran.
Though all three flights showed Luxembourg as their final destination, the aircraft never went near Europe.
The type of planes and the flight patterns have led many to think that China is coming to Iran’s aid.
As Andrea Ghiselli, a lecturer at the University of Exeter who specialises in China’s relations with the Middle East and North Africa, told The Guardian, “These cargos cannot but generate a lot of interest because of the expectation that China might do something to help Iran.”
Why would China help Iran?
This is because China and Iran are strategic partners and aligned against the US-led western order.
Iran also supplies much of the energy China uses – around two million barrels of oil every day.
In fact, Iran sends over 90 per cent of its oil exports to China.
Beijing’s refining sector is said to be incredibly dependent on cheap oil from Tehran.
Tehran, which is facing an oil ban from the West, is forced to sell its crude oil under the radar.
It does this via a ““dark fleet” of tankers that keep their transponders turned off.
Much of Iran’s oil is bought by tiny Chinese “teapot” refineries in the Shandong region.
These small refineries have been buying this oil since 2022 to protect their razor-thin margins.
Iran also sells this price at a discount of around $2 per barrel.
That gap in the past was as high as $11 in 2023 and $4 in 2024.
China also pays for the oil in yuan rather than in dollars – which makes Iran in turn spend money on Chinese goods.
An Iranian official described this relationship as “a colonial trap.”
An Israeli attack on Kharg Island, where most of Iran’s crude is loaded onto tankers, would completely cut off China from this cheap oil.
While Saudi Arabia and the UAE could eventually replace up to 80 per cent of Iran’s output, the pain in China would be immediate.
Though Iran’s crude refineries have not yet been targeted, the price of oil has spiked since Israel launched its airstrikes.
“The collapse of the current regime would be a significant blow and would generate a lot of instability in the Middle East, ultimately undermining Chinese economic and energy interests. Moreover, in Iran, there are probably many who are expecting some kind of help from China,” Ghiselli added.
The isn’t the first time Beijing would have helped Tehran.
China previously provided Iran with thousands of tonnes of ballistic missile materials.
President Xi Jinping on Tuesday said China was “deeply worried” about the conflict in West Asia.
Xi, speaking on the sidelines of a summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana, added, “All parties should work to de-escalate the conflict as soon as possible and prevent the situation from worsening further.”
Experts think though the chances of China sending Iran weapons remains low, they are not nil.
The situation should be monitored closely, they add.
The developments come in the backdrop of US President Donald Trump – who had demanded an unconditional surrender from Iran – reportedly greenlighting plans to attack Iran.
“You don’t know that I’m going to even do it,” Trump said. “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday said his country would ’never surrender'.
“Let the Americans know that the Iranian nation is not one to surrender, and any military intervention on their part will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage,” Khamenei said. “Those who are wise and familiar with Iran, its people, and its history never speak to this nation in the language of threats.”
With inputs from agencies