Trump doubts China, Russia are helping Tehran
Published : 14 October 2026
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Updated : 14 October 2026, 00:54
Agencies
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck a vessel on Monday that was attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial to global energy flows.
Iran has imposed a blockade on the strait since the United States and Israel launched strikes against the Islamic republic in February, triggering the Middle East war.
The blockade has been met with a US counter-blockade of Iranian ports, and US forces routinely escort vessels crossing the strait. Iran has since the start of the war frequently targeted vessels crossing Hormuz without its permission, reports AFP.
The Guards’ navy said in a statement published on the force’s news platform, Sepah News, that “a supertanker, was hit in the Strait of Hormuz and caught fire”.
The ship targeted on Monday had tried to sail through the area “by disabling its transponders” and “by ignoring warnings from the Guards’ Navy”, the statement said.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said late on Monday he did not believe that China and Russia were helping Iran “at all,” adding that Moscow and Beijing had “too much to lose” if they enabled Tehran.
Trump said on Truth Social that he had seen comments from his critics and opponents that China and Russia were helping Iran, reports Reuters.
“If they are, it’s at a very low level, but I don’t believe they are at all. They have too much to lose, and we would know about it, and know about it very fast,” Trump wrote.
Trump said in July he trusted China and Russia not to help Tehran in the Iran war, but warned that if they did get involved “it would be very bad for them.”
The United States and Iran have been at war since February 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have since killed thousands and displaced millions.
Trump has previously described Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “neutral” during the Iran war.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty have discussed regional developments, including the situation in Yemen, in a phone call yesterday, state-run IRNA reports.
The two top diplomats exchanged views on the latest regional developments and also discussed diplomatic initiatives aimed at de-escalating tensions across the region.